原告席 (yuán gào xí) — plaintiff's seat (in a courtroom); plaintiff's bench

Definition

The seat or bench reserved for the plaintiff (原告) in a Chinese courtroom. Pairs with 被告席 on the opposite side — together they mark the two parties in a trial.

noun
plaintiff's seat (in a courtroom)plaintiff's bench
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 原告席。
    Qǐng yuán gào zuò dào yuán gào xí shàng.
    Please have the plaintiff sit at the plaintiff's bench.
  • ，原告席。
    Fǎ guān xuān bù xiū tíng shí, yuán gào xí shàng de jiā shǔ kū le qǐ lái.
    When the judge announced a recess, the family members at the plaintiff's bench began to cry.
  • 原告席。
    Shuāng fāng lǜ shī fēn bié zhàn zài yuán gào xí hé bèi gào xí qián.
    The lawyers from both sides stood before the plaintiff's bench and the defendant's bench respectively.

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.

原告
原yuánoriginal告gàoaccuser
偏正Modifier + head
席xíseat

原告 names the plaintiff and 席 names a seat, giving the seat for the plaintiff.

Characters in this word

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

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

Open 原 →

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →

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