赃物 (zāng wù) — stolen goods; loot; bribes (illegal proceeds)

Definition

赃物 (zāng wù) covers two related crime proceeds: stolen goods and bribes (illegal gains from corruption). It's a formal/legal term, not used in everyday speech.

noun

stolen goodslootbribes (illegal proceeds)

Measure word · 件

Examples

赃物。
Jǐng chá zhǎo dào le bèi tōu de zāng wù.
The police found the stolen goods.
赃物。
Tā yīn wèi shōu shòu zāng wù bèi dài bǔ le.
He was arrested for accepting bribes.
赃物。
Zhè xiē zāng wù shì cóng bié rén jiā lǐ tōu lái de.
These stolen goods were stolen from someone else's home.

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.

赃zāngillicit proceeds

物wùthing

赃 refers to illicit proceeds, and 物 means thing or goods, together denoting stolen or bribed items.

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 贓; 赃 is its simplified writing.

貝臧贓

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèi

Sound part声符shēngfú

臧

臧zāng贓zāng

Same sound today

The traditional form 贓 uses 貝, the shell character, to show money, and 臧 to give the sound. The simplified 赃 is a shorthand; its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 赃 →

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

牛牛niú

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.

Open 物 →

Appears in