否决权 (fǒu jué quán) — veto power; right to veto

Definition

noun
veto powerright to veto

Examples

  • 否决权。
    Lián hé guó ān lǐ huì cháng rèn lǐ shì guó yōng yǒu fǒu jué quán.
    The permanent members of the UN Security Council have veto power.
  • 否决权。
    Dǒng shì huì duì zhè xiàng jué dìng yǒu fǒu jué quán.
    The board of directors has veto power over this decision.
  • 否决权。
    Tā de fǒu jué quán zǔ zhǐ le zhè xiàng tí àn tōng guò.
    His veto power prevented the proposal from passing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

否决veto
否fǒudeny决juédecision
动宾Verb + object
权quánpower

否决权 is 权, power, to 否, deny, a 决, decision.

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
不
不bù否pǐ
Same sound today

否 is built from 口 (mouth) and 不 (not), with 不 giving the sound and 口 relating to speech.

Open 否 →

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 決; 决 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
夬
夬guài決jué
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 決 has 氵 (water) and 夬, which gives the sound. This describes 決, not the simplified 决.

Open 决 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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