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变节 (biàn jié) — to betray one's political allegiance; to turn traitor; to defect; (archaic/formal) to break one's vow of chastity or integrity (also applied politically)

Definition

变节 (biàn jié) is a formal, written verb meaning to betray one's political allegiance and turn traitor. Strongly negative in tone; used in historical and political writing, not everyday speech.

verb
to betray one's political allegianceto turn traitorto defect(archaic/formal) to break one's vow of chastity or integrity (also applied politically)

Examples

  • 变节，。
    Tā zài guān jiàn shí kè biàn jié le, tóu kào le dí rén.
    At the critical moment, he betrayed his cause and defected to the enemy.
  • ，，。
    Zhè ge rén yǐ qián shuō yí tào zuò yí tào, hòu lái biàn le yí cì jié, chè dǐ shī qù le dà jiā de xìn rèn.
    This person used to say one thing and do another; later he defected once and completely lost everyone's trust.
  • 变节。
    Lì shǐ shàng hěn duō biàn jié de zhèng kè zuì zhōng dōu méi yǒu hǎo xià chǎng.
    Many turncoat politicians in history ended up badly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

变biànchange
节jiéintegrity

“变” means change, and “节” refers to integrity or loyalty; together they describe changing one's allegiance.

Characters in this word

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 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌變biàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

Open 变 →

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 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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