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宪兵 (xiàn bīng) — military police (MP); gendarme (armed police with both military and law enforcement roles)

Definition

Soldiers who act as police inside the military — enforcing military law, discipline, and order among troops. Distinct from civilian 警察, who handle public law enforcement.

noun
military police (MP)gendarme (armed police with both military and law enforcement roles)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 宪兵。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì de xiàn bīng fù zé wéi chí zhì xù.
    The military police in this city are responsible for maintaining order.
  • ，宪兵。
    Èr zhàn qī jiān, xiàn bīng zài zhàn lǐng qū zhí xíng jūn fǎ.
    During WWII, the military police enforced martial law in occupied areas.
  • 宪兵，。
    Tā céng zài dé guó dāng guò xiàn bīng, xiàn zài shì yì míng jǐng chá.
    He once served as a gendarme in Germany, and now he's a police officer.

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.

宪xiànlaw
兵bīngsoldier

宪 gives law or constitution, and 兵 gives soldiers, yielding military police.

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 憲; 宪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡩜
𡩜𡩜憲xiàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 憲 pairs 心 (heart) with 𡩜, a sound component whose form depicts a punishment involving tattooing the eyes; the simplified 宪 is a later shorthand.

Open 宪 →

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

  • 斤斤jīna short axe
  • 廾廾gǒng2 hands

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

Open 兵 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceMilitary & Defense

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