拘留 (jū liú) — to detain, to keep in custody | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

拘留 is the formal legal/criminal-j ustice 'detain' (a suspect for investigation). Broader than 扣押 and 扣留, which usually refer to seizing property/documents rather than holding a person.

verb

to detainto keep in custody

Examples

拘留。
Tā yīn wèi tōu dōng xi bèi jū liú le sān tiān.
He was detained for three days for stealing.
拘留。
Jǐng chá jū liú le liǎng míng xián yí rén.
The police detained two suspects.
拘留。
Zhè ge àn jiàn xū yào jū liú zhǔ yào xián yí rén jìn xíng diào chá.
This case requires detaining the main suspect for investigation.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

拘jūrestrain

留liúkeep; detain

拘 means to restrain, and 留 means to keep or detain, so together they describe holding someone in custody.

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.

扌句拘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

句

句jù拘jū

Same sound today

The left part of 拘 is 扌, the hand form written in full as 手; the right part 句 gives the sound jù.

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

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

卯

卯mǎo留liú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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