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制裁 (zhì cái) — (verb) to impose sanctions (on); to punish by official/legal authority

Definition

Official 'sanctions' — typically by a government or international body against a country or company. 惩罚 and 处罚 are more general 'punish' across many contexts.

verb
to impose sanctions (on)to punish by official/legal authority

Examples

  • 制裁。
    Lián hé guó jué dìng zhì cái nà ge wéi fǎn xié yì de guó jiā.
    The United Nations decided to impose sanctions on that country that violated the agreement.
  • 制裁。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī yīn wèi qī zhà xíng wéi bèi zhèng fǔ zhì cái le.
    This company was sanctioned by the government for fraudulent behavior.
  • 制裁。
    Xǔ duō rén rèn wéi jīng jì zhì cái bù néng jiě jué wèn tí.
    Many people think economic sanctions cannot solve the problem.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

制zhìrestrain
裁cáijudge

制 restrain and 裁 judge give official punishment or sanctions.

Characters in this word

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

The form 制 pairs 朱 (tree) with 刀 (knife), showing the act of cutting a tree.

Open 制 →

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
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢦏
𢦏𢦏裁cái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

裁 combines 衣 (clothing) with 𢦏, whose form is tied to a blade and an arrow, to show cutting fabric.

Open 裁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Law & Justice

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