血仇 (xuè chóu) — blood feud

Definition

A blood feud: a long-running cycle of revenge between families or clans, passed down across generations. It implies the conflict is rooted in a killing and continues until settled.

noun
blood feud

Examples

  • 血仇。
    Zhè liǎng gè jiā zú zhī jiān de xuè chóu yǐ jīng yán xù le shàng bǎi nián.
    The blood feud between these two families has continued for over a hundred years.
  • 血仇，。
    Wèi le huà jiě zhè chǎng xuè chóu, shuāng fāng jué dìng zuò xià lái tán pàn.
    To resolve this blood feud, both sides decided to sit down and negotiate.
  • 血仇。
    Wén xué zuò pǐn lǐ jīng cháng miáo xiě gǔ lǎo de xuè chóu gù shi.
    Literary works often describe ancient blood feud stories.

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.

血xuèblood
仇chóufeud

血 (blood) and 仇 (feud) combine to mean a feud involving blood.

Characters in this word

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
九
九jiǔ仇⁰qiú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

仇 has 亻, a person, and 九, which gives the sound.

Open 仇 →

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