密告 (mì gào) — to secretly report (someone) to the authorities; to inform against; to tip off

Definition

A formal verb for secretly reporting someone (often a wrongdoer) to authorities or a superior. Carries a negative, betrayal-like tone compared to plain 报告 or 举报.

verb
to secretly report (someone) to the authoritiesto inform againstto tip off

Examples

  • 密告，。
    Tā bèi tóng shì mì gào le, gōng sī zhèng zài diào chá.
    He was secretly reported by a colleague, and the company is investigating.
  • 密告，。
    Tā mì gào le nà ge fàn dú tuán huǒ, jǐng chá hěn kuài jiù xíng dòng le.
    He reported that drug trafficking gang, and the police acted quickly.
  • 密告，。
    Yǒu rén mì gào jǐng chá, shuō zhè jiā cān guǎn shǐ yòng bù xīn xiān de shí cái.
    Someone tipped off the police that this restaurant uses stale ingredients.

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.

密mìsecret
告gàoreport

密 means secret and 告 means report, giving the sense of secretly reporting someone.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
宓
宓mì密mì
Same sound today

密 pairs 山 (mountain) with 宓 (mì), which gives the pronunciation, to picture something hidden in the mountains, hence secret.

Open 密 →

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 →

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