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狱中 (yù zhōng) — in prison, in jail

Definition

noun
in prisonin jail

Examples

  • 狱中。
    Tā zài yù zhōng zhōng dù guò le shí nián.
    He spent ten years in prison.
  • 狱中。
    yù zhōng De shēng huó fēi cháng jiān kǔ.
    Life in prison is very hard.
  • 狱中。
    Tā yīn wèi tān wū bèi guān jìn yù zhōng.
    He was put in prison for corruption.

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.

狱yùprison
中zhōnginside

狱 is prison and 中 is inside, giving the sense of being in jail.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 獄; 狱 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 獄 pairs 㹜 (two dog forms) with 言 (words), showing dogs barking at each other in a jail with guard dogs. The simplified 狱 is a later shorthand.

Open 狱 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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