囚禁 (qiú jìn) — to imprison; to keep in captivity

Definition

verb

to imprisonto keep in captivity

囚禁。
Tā men bǎ tā qiú jìn zài jiān yù lǐ.
They imprisoned him in the prison.
囚禁。
Zhè ge guó jiā céng jīng qiú jìn guò hěn duō zhèng zhì fàn.
This country once imprisoned many political prisoners.
囚禁。
Tā bèi qiú jìn le shí nián cái bèi shì fàng.
He was imprisoned for ten years before being released.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

囚 and 禁 both convey confining, so the word means to imprison or keep in captivity.

Characters in this word

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

囗人囚

囚 puts 人 (person) inside 囗 (box, enclosure), making a person enclosed, hence prisoner.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

林示禁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

示示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

林

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

禁 has 林 above 示, an altar. The 林 part gives the sound, and the altar part connects the character to taboo or restricted matters.

Appears in