诈取 (zhà qǔ) — to obtain by fraud, to defraud, to swindle

Definition

Literary/formal verb: 'to obtain by fraud.' Stronger than everyday words like 骗 (to deceive) — 诈取 emphasizes obtaining money or assets through deliberate fraud.

verb
to obtain by fraudto defraudto swindle
Easily confused

Examples

  • 诈取。
    Tā lì yòng xū jiǎ hé tong zhà qǔ le dà liàng zī jīn.
    He defrauded a large amount of funds using fake contracts.
  • 诈取。
    Zhè ge piàn zi zhà qǔ le lǎo rén de quán bù jī xù.
    This swindler defrauded the elderly person of all their savings.
  • 诈取。
    Gōng sī qǐ sù tā zhà qǔ shāng yè jī mì.
    The company sued him for obtaining trade secrets by fraud.

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.

诈zhàcheat
取qǔobtain

诈 means cheating, and 取 means obtaining, so it describes getting something by fraud.

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 詐; 诈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà詐zhà
Same sound today

The traditional form 詐 shows 言 (speech) plus 乍 as a sound part; the simplified 诈 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 诈 →

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

取 pairs 又 (hand) with 耳 (ear), showing a hand taking an ear, as in taking the ear of fallen prey.

Open 取 →

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