帮派 (bāng pài) — gang (criminal group); faction (within an organization)

Definition

Means a 'gang' or 'faction' — a group of people bound by shared interest, often with a negative or rivalrous edge. Used broadly for both criminal gangs (帮派之争) and in-house factions (公司帮派).

noun
gang (criminal group)faction (within an organization)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 帮派。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu jǐ gè hēi shè huì bāng pài zài zhēng duó dì pán.
    This city has several mafia gangs fighting over territory.
  • 帮派，。
    Gōng sī nèi bù chū xiàn le bù tóng de bāng pài, hù xiāng jìng zhēng.
    Different factions have appeared inside the company, competing with each other.
  • 帮派，。
    Tā jiā rù le nà ge bāng pài, cóng cǐ bú zài gū dān.
    He joined that gang/faction and was no longer lonely from then on.

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.

帮bānggroup
派pàifaction

帮 and 派 both refer to groups or factions, so 帮派 denotes a faction or gang.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 幫; 帮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
帛帛bósilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
封
封fēng幫bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 帮's traditional form 幫, 帛 (silk) gives the meaning and 封 gives the sound; it originally named the upper part of a shoe.

Open 帮 →

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
水水shuǐwater; river
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠂢
𠂢𠂢派pài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

派 is built from 水 (water/river) and 𠂢. 𠂢 gives the sound, and 水 was added later to tell the character apart from the older form.

Open 派 →
Appears in
Groups & OrganizationsCrime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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