冤案 (yuān àn) — wrongful case; miscarriage of justice; unjust v… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 'wrongful case' — a legal case in which an innocent person is wrongly convicted. Emphasizes the unjust verdict, not the crime itself.

noun

wrongful casemiscarriage of justiceunjust verdict

Examples

冤案。
Zhè ge yuān àn zhōng yú dé dào le píng fǎn.
This wrongful case was finally redressed.
冤案。
Tā yīn wèi yuān àn zuò le shí nián láo.
He spent ten years in prison because of a wrongful conviction.
冤案。
Fǎ lǜ yīng gāi bì miǎn yuān àn de fā shēng.
The law should prevent wrongful cases from happening.

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.

冤yuāninjustice

冤 means injustice and 案 means case, so it names an unjust case.

Characters in this word

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

冖兔冤

冖冖mìcover
兔兔tùrabbit

The shape of 冤 is built from two parts: 冖, a cover, and 兔, a rabbit.

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

木安案

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

安

安ān案àn

Same sound today

案 pairs 木, a wood/tree shape, with 安, which is used for its sound.

Appears in

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