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侦探 (zhēn tàn) — (noun) detective; (verb) to do detective work, to investigate

Definition

A detective — the person who investigates crimes, or the act of doing so. 侦查 is the official/police term for investigating; 探究 and 探求 mean exploring a topic in depth, not solving crimes.

noun
detective
verb
to do detective workto investigate
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 侦探。
    Zhè wèi zhēn tàn pò guò hěn duō dà àn zi.
    This detective has solved many major cases.
  • 侦探。
    Tā qǐng zhēn tàn diào chá le nà jiā gōng sī.
    He hired a detective to investigate that company.
  • 侦探。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài zhēn tàn zhè qǐ shī zōng àn jiàn.
    The police are investigating this missing person case.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

侦zhēninvestigate
探tànprobe

侦 'investigate' and 探 'probe' combine: to look into hidden matters.

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 偵; 侦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺅Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
貞
貞zhēn偵zhēn
Same sound today

The traditional form 偵 pairs ⺅ (person) with 貞, which gives the sound and the idea of asking; the simplified 侦 is a later shorthand.

Open 侦 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥥍
𥥍𥥍探tàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 探, the 扌 part is a hand, and 𥥍 gives the sound.

Open 探 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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