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依法 (yī fǎ) — according to law; in accordance with the law; legally

Definition

依法 is the adverb 'according to the law / in accordance with the law' — it describes how an action is done. 合法 means the thing itself is legal; 法定 means prescribed by statute.

adverb
according to lawin accordance with the lawlegally

Examples

  • 依法。
    Wǒ men bì xū yī fǎ wéi hù zì jǐ de hé fǎ quán yì.
    We must safeguard our legitimate rights and interests according to law.
  • 依法。
    Rèn hé zǔ zhī dōu yīng dāng yī fǎ nà shuì.
    Any organization should pay taxes according to law.
  • 依法。
    Fǎ yuàn yī fǎ zuò chū le gōng zhèng de pàn jué.
    The court made a fair judgment in accordance with the law.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

依yīaccording to
法fǎlaw

依 means according to and 法 means law, together giving according to law.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénhuman
Sound part声符shēngfú
衣
衣yī依yī
Same sound today

依 is made from 亻, a person, plus 衣, which gives its sound.

Open 依 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Law & Justice

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