证物 (zhèng wù) — (law) exhibit (physical evidence produced in co… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

(law) exhibit (physical evidence produced in court)

Measure word · 件

Examples

证物。
Lǜ shī zài fǎ tíng shàng chū shì le zhè jiàn zhèng wù.
The lawyer presented this exhibit in court.
证物。
Jǐng fāng jiāng zhè bǎ dāo liè wéi zhòng yào zhèng wù zhī yī.
The police listed this knife as one of the key exhibits.
证物。
Měi yí jiàn zhèng wù dōu bì xū yǒu wán zhěng de bǎo guǎn jì lù.
Every exhibit must have a complete chain-of-custody record.

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.

证zhèngevidence

证 means evidence and 物 means thing, so it denotes a thing serving as evidence.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

牛勿物

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

勿

勿wù物wù

Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Appears in

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