人犯 (rén fàn) — criminal, suspect | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

criminalsuspect

Measure word · 个

Examples

。
Jǐng chá zhèng zài zhuī bǔ yì míng rén fàn.
The police are chasing a suspect.
，人犯。
Fǎ tíng shàng, rén fàn chéng rèn le zì jǐ de zuì xíng.
In court, the criminal admitted his crimes.
人犯。
Zhè qǐ àn jiàn de zhǔ yào rén fàn yǐ jīng bèi zhuā huò.
The main suspect in this case has been caught.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

犯fànoffender

人 means person and 犯 means offender; together they denote a person who is an offender.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

Appears in

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.