转嫁 (zhuǎn jià) — (of a woman) to remarry after divorce or widowhood; to shift, to transfer (responsibility, blame, cost, etc.) onto someone else

Definition

A verb with two distinct senses: a dated/literary 'to remarry' (of a woman after divorce or widowhood), and the modern figurative 'to shift blame, cost, or responsibility onto someone else' — typically used with 把 + 给, as in 把责任转嫁给别人.

verb
(of a woman) to remarry after divorce or widowhoodto shiftto transfer (responsibility, blame, cost, etc.) onto someone else

Examples

  • 转嫁。
    Tā shì tú bǎ shī bài de guò cuò zhuǎn jià gěi bié rén.
    He tried to shift the blame for the failure onto others.
  • 转嫁。
    Gōng sī tōng guò zhǎng jià bǎ chéng běn zhuǎn jià gěi le xiāo fèi zhě.
    The company passed the cost on to consumers by raising prices.
  • ,转嫁。
    Zài gǔ dài, guǎ fù zhuǎn jià cháng cháng shòu dào jiā zú de zǔ náo.
    In ancient times, widows who remarried often faced opposition from their families.

Origin

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

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
家
家jiā嫁jià
Same sound today

嫁 uses 女 to show it relates to a woman, and 家 to give its sound.

Open 嫁 →

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