含冤 (hán yuān) — to suffer an injustice; to be wrongfully accused

Definition

Literary/written verb meaning to bear or suffer a wrongful accusation. Stronger and more formal than everyday 冤枉, which also means 'to wrong someone' (active sense).

verb
to suffer an injusticeto be wrongfully accused

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā hán le yí bèi zi de yuān, zuì hòu zhōng yú zhēn xiàng dà bái le.
    He suffered injustice his whole life and finally the truth came out.
  • 含冤。
    Tā hán yuān shòu le shí nián de kǔ.
    He suffered injustice and endured ten years of hardship.
  • 含冤。
    hán yuān Ér sǐ shì zuì ràng rén xīn tòng de shì.
    Dying with an injustice is the most heartbreaking thing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

含hánhold
冤yuāninjustice

含 means to hold and 冤 means injustice, so the result is to carry an unjust grievance.

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
今
今jīn含hán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

含 is built from 口 (mouth) and 今 (jīn). The 口 part is about the mouth, while 今 gives the sound.

Open 含 →

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

The shape of 冤 is built from two parts: 冖, a cover, and 兔, a rabbit.

Open 冤 →

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