伪造罪 (wěi zào zuì) — forgery (crime of counterfeiting documents, signatures, currency, etc.)

Definition

noun
forgery (crime of counterfeiting documents, signatures, currency, etc.)

Examples

  • 伪造罪。
    Tā yīn wèi wěi zào zuì bèi pàn le sān nián yǒu qī tú xíng.
    He was sentenced to three years in prison for forgery.
  • 伪造罪。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá zhè qǐ wěi zào zuì àn jiàn.
    The police are investigating this forgery case.
  • 伪造罪。
    wěi zào zuì Shì yì zhǒng yán zhòng de fàn zuì xíng wéi.
    Forgery is a serious criminal act.

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.

伪造forgery
伪wěifake造zàomake
偏正Modifier + head
罪zuìcrime

伪造罪 pairs 伪造 (forgery) with 罪 (crime) to mean the crime of forging documents.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 偽; 伪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
為
為wéi偽wěi
Same sound today

The modern 伪 comes from the traditional form 偽, where 亻 (man) marks the idea as about a person and 為 gives the sound and means “to make”; together they originally meant “artificial”.

Open 伪 →

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
辵辵chuòto walk
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
屮
屮chè造zào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Its origin is unclear, but early forms of 造 include 辵 (to walk) and 口, with 屮 as a sound part, and mean go or arrive.

Open 造 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

罪 puts 罒 (a net, written fully as 网) over 非 (mistake).

Open 罪 →

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