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内奸 (nèi jiān) — hidden traitor; mole; spy within one's own ranks

Definition

A traitor operating secretly from inside one's own organization. The spy element is implied; the focus is betrayal from within, not foreign espionage.

noun
hidden traitormolespy within one's own ranks
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 内奸，。
    Zǔ zhī lǐ jìng rán yǒu nèi jiān, dà jiā dōu hěn zhèn jīng.
    Everyone was shocked that there was a mole within the organization.
  • 内奸。
    Jǐng fāng huái yí zhè cì xiè mì shì nèi jiān gān de.
    The police suspect the leak was the work of a hidden traitor.
  • ，内奸。
    Tā wèi le lì yì chū mài qíng bào, chéng le kě chǐ de nèi jiān.
    He sold intelligence for profit and became a despicable traitor.

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.

内nèiinside
奸jiāntraitor

内 means inside, and 奸 means traitor; a traitor within.

Characters in this word

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

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān奸jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奸 is written with 女 (woman) on the left and 干 on the right; the evidence says 干 gives the sound and 女 marks the meaning.

Open 奸 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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