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分赃 (fēn zāng) — to divide the spoils, to split the loot (of a crime)

Definition

A verb meaning to divide loot or illegal gains among co-conspirators after a crime. It is a fixed legal/criminal term — the 赃 refers to stolen goods or bribery money, so it never applies to ordinary sharing.

verb
to divide the spoilsto split the loot (of a crime)

Examples

  • 分赃。
    Tā men zuò àn hòu mǎ shàng kāi shǐ fēn zāng.
    They started dividing the spoils right after the crime.
  • 。
    Jǐ gè rén fēn le zāng jiù gè zì táo pǎo le.
    The few people split the loot and then each fled separately.
  • 。
    Zhè liǎng gè tuán huǒ yīn wèi fēn zāng bù jūn dǎ qǐ lái le.
    These two gangs started fighting because the spoils were divided unevenly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

分fēndivide
赃zāngspoils

分 means divide and 赃 means stolen goods, so the action is dividing spoils.

Characters in this word

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

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 贓; 赃 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèi
Sound part声符shēngfú
臧
臧zāng贓zāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 贓 uses 貝, the shell character, to show money, and 臧 to give the sound. The simplified 赃 is a shorthand; its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 赃 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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