妨害 (fáng hài) — to harm; to impair; to be detrimental to

Definition

verb

to harmto impairto be detrimental to

妨害。
Cháng qī áo yè huì fáng hài shēn tǐ jiàn kāng.
Staying up late regularly will harm your health.
妨害。
Xū jiǎ xìn xī huì fáng hài shè huì zhì xù.
False information can jeopardize social order.
妨害。
Bào lì xíng wéi yán zhòng fáng hài gōng gòng ān quán.
Violent acts severely impair public safety.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

The two parts 妨 and 害 both mean hinder and harm, so together they express damaging or impairing.

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.

女方妨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

Same sound today

妨 pairs 女 (woman) with 方, which once meant taking up space, to show someone being blocked from approaching a woman.

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

丯

丯jiè害hài

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

害 was borrowed purely for its sound. Its old picture, possibly a house rafter, is unrelated to harm.

Appears in