判刑 (pàn xíng) — to sentence (to a prison term) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

判刑 means a court formally sentences someone to a punishment (usually prison time). It is a legal/judicial term, used in formal contexts about court verdicts.

verb

to sentence (to a prison term)

Examples

判刑。
Fǎ guān pàn xíng le nà ge huài rén.
The judge sentenced that bad person.
。
Tā yīn wèi tōu dōng xi bèi pàn le liǎng nián xíng.
Because he stole things, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
判刑。
Zhè ge àn jiàn yǐ jīng pàn xíng le.
This case has already been sentenced.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

判pànsentence

刑xíngpunishment

判 gives the sense of deciding a sentence, and 刑 names the punishment imposed.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

半

半bàn判pàn

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

判 combines 刀, a knife, with 半, which provides the sound.

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

井

井jǐng刑xíng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刑 puts 刀 (knife) beside 井. The knife part shows the punishment idea, and 井 gives the sound.

Appears in

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