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受刑 (shòu xíng) — to suffer physical punishment; to be tortured (especially as a judicial sentence)

Definition

A formal, written term for being subjected to judicial physical punishment or torture, often as a court sentence. The simpler 处罚 names the punishment itself; 受刑 emphasizes the experience of undergoing it.

verb
to suffer physical punishmentto be tortured (especially as a judicial sentence)

Examples

  • 受刑。
    Nà ge fàn rén zuì zhōng bèi pàn le shòu xíng.
    That prisoner was finally sentenced to suffer punishment.
  • ，。
    Tā yīn wèi tōu qiè, shòu le yí cì xíng.
    Because of theft, he suffered punishment once.
  • 受刑。
    Méi yǒu rén yuàn yì wú yuán wú gù dì shòu xíng.
    No one is willing to suffer punishment for no reason.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

受shòureceive
刑xíngpunishment

受 means to receive and 刑 means punishment, so it describes receiving physical punishment.

Characters in this word

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

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

Open 受 →

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dāo
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.

Open 刑 →
Appears in
Law & Justice

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