告戒 (gào jiè) — to warn, to admonish

Definition

告戒 (gàojiè) means 'to warn, to admonish' — telling someone firmly not to do something, or pointing out a lesson. It is a variant of 告诫 with the same meaning, so the two are interchangeable.

verb
to warnto admonish
Easily confused

Examples

  • 告戒。
    Lǎo shī duō cì gào jiè xué shēng bú yào zuò bì.
    The teacher repeatedly warned the students not to cheat.
  • 告戒。
    Tā gào jiè ér zi yào xiǎo xīn mò shēng rén.
    He admonished his son to be careful of strangers.
  • 告戒。
    Lì shǐ gào jiè wǒ men bú yào chóng dǎo fù zhé.
    History warns us not to repeat the same mistakes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

告gàotell/warn
戒jièadmonish

告 and 戒 both mean warning or admonishing, so together they express admonish.

Characters in this word

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

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

  • 戈戈gēhalberd
  • 廾廾gǒnghands

戒 shows 廾 (hands) and 戈 (a halberd) together: hands holding up a weapon as a warning.

Open 戒 →

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