遣返 (qiǎn fǎn) — repatriate | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

遣返 (qiǎnfǎn) is a formal/official term meaning to send someone back to their home country, typically by government order. Used in legal, diplomatic, and news contexts.

verb

repatriate

Examples

遣返。
Zhèng fǔ jué dìng qiǎn fǎn nà xiē nàn mín.
The government decided to repatriate those refugees.
遣返。
Tā men bèi qiǎn fǎn huí zì jǐ de guó jiā.
They were repatriated back to their own country.
遣返。
Guó jì zǔ zhī xié zhù qiǎn fǎn zhàn fú.
International organizations assisted in repatriating prisoners of war.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

“遣” send and “返” return combine to mean sending someone back home.

Characters in this word

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

The old form showed two hands directing an army, meaning to send or dispatch; the modern 遣 adds a walking part.

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

辶反返

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòmovement

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

反fǎn返fǎn

Same sound today

返 pairs 辶 (movement) with 反 (sound, with the sense of returning); the whole character originally meant coming back along the path one came from.

Appears in

International & Diplomacy

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