冤狱 (yuān yù) — miscarriage of justice; wrongful conviction

Definition

A formal, written term for a wrongful criminal case in which an innocent person is convicted and punished. More literary and legal-sounding than everyday phrasings like 冤枉的案子.

noun
miscarriage of justicewrongful conviction

Examples

  • 冤狱。
    Zhè qǐ yuān yù zuì zhōng dé dào le píng fǎn.
    This miscarriage of justice was eventually overturned.
  • 冤狱。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu hěn duō zhù míng de yuān yù.
    There are many famous wrongful convictions in history.
  • 冤狱。
    Tā yīn wèi yuān yù zuò le shí nián láo.
    He spent ten years in prison because of a miscarriage of justice.

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
狱yùcase

The 冤 idea narrows the 狱 to an unjust one.

Characters in this word

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

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

Open 冤 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 獄; 狱 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 獄 pairs 㹜 (two dog forms) with 言 (words), showing dogs barking at each other in a jail with guard dogs. The simplified 狱 is a later shorthand.

Open 狱 →

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