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征收 (zhēng shōu) — to levy (taxes, fees); to expropriate (land, property)

Definition

征收 means the government levies a tax/fee or expropriates land/property. Stronger and more legal than 没收 (confiscate, usually as a penalty) and 剥夺 (strip someone of rights).

verb
to levy (taxes, fees)to expropriate (land, property)

Examples

  • 征收。
    Zhèng fǔ jué dìng duì shē chǐ pǐn zhēng shōu xiāo fèi shuì.
    The government decided to levy a consumption tax on luxury goods.
  • ，征收。
    Wèi le xiū jiàn gāo sù gōng lù, zhèng fǔ zhēng shōu le zhè piàn nóng tián.
    To build the highway, the government expropriated this farmland.
  • 征收。
    Xīn zhèng cè guī dìng duì jìn kǒu shāng pǐn zhēng shōu fù jiā shuì.
    The new policy stipulates levying a surcharge on imported goods.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

征zhēnglevy
收shōucollect

征收 joins 征, to levy, with 收, to collect, so it means officially collecting taxes or fees.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

Open 征 →

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
丩
丩jiū收shōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

收 uses 攴 to show an action and 丩 as a sound clue; the old meaning was 'to arrest.'

Open 收 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Government & Politics

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