偿债 (cháng zhài) — to repay a debt (formal)

Definition

Formal written verb meaning 'to repay a debt,' typically in business or government contexts — not for casual everyday borrowing.

verb
to repay a debt (formal)

Examples

  • 偿债。
    Gōng sī zhèng zài nǔ lì cháng zhài.
    The company is working hard to repay its debts.
  • 。
    Tā yòng le sān nián shí jiān cái cháng qīng zhè bǐ zhài.
    It took him three years to fully repay this debt.
  • 偿债。
    Zhèng fǔ chū tái le xīn zhèng cè bāng zhù nóng mín cháng zhài.
    The government introduced new policies to help farmers repay debts.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

偿chángrepay
债zhàidebt

偿 means to repay, and 债 means debt; together they form the action of paying back what is owed.

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 償; 偿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
賞
賞shǎng償cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 償 pairs 亻 (person) with 賞 as the sound part; the simplified 偿 is a later shorthand, not a historical component breakdown.

Open 偿 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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