篡位 (cuàn wèi) — to usurp the throne; (by extension) to seize po…

Definition

A literary term for illegally seizing the throne, extended to any unlawful power takeover. It is a separable verb: 篡…位.

verb

to usurp the throne(by extension) to seize power unlawfully(v.o.) separable verb: 篡…位

篡位，。
Lì shǐ shàng yǒu hěn duō rén xiǎng yào cuàn wèi, dàn chéng gōng de rén hěn shǎo.
In history, many people wanted to usurp the throne, but few succeeded.
，篡。
Tā gōu jié dà chén, zuì zhōng cuàn le huáng dì de wèi.
He colluded with high officials and eventually usurped the emperor's throne.
篡位，。
Gōng sī nèi bù yǒu rén shì tú cuàn wèi, ràng guǎn lǐ céng hěn bù mǎn.
Someone inside the company tried to seize power, which made management very unhappy.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

篡cuànusurp

篡 means seize unlawfully and 位 means throne or position, so the action is seizing the throne.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

立

立lì位wèi

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

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.