凶犯 (xiōng fàn) — murderer; criminal who commits a violent killing | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

murderercriminal who commits a violent killing

Measure word · 个

Examples

凶犯。
Jǐng fāng yǐ jīng dài bǔ le nà míng xiōng fàn.
The police have arrested that murderer.
凶犯。
Zhè ge xiōng fàn zuò àn shǒu duàn jí qí cán rěn.
This murderer's methods were extremely brutal.
凶犯。
Fǎ tíng pàn chǔ xiōng fàn sǐ xíng.
The court sentenced the murderer to death.

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.

凶xiōngviolent

犯fàncriminal

凶 gives violent, and 犯 gives criminal, so the word names a violent criminal or murderer.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

凶 originally drew a hole with a lump of rock, mud, stone, or bamboo in it.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

Appears in

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