恶行 (è xíng) — evil conduct, wicked deeds

Definition

noun

evil conductwicked deeds

恶行。
Měi gè rén dōu hèn tā de è xíng.
Everyone hates his evil deeds.
恶行。
Zhè ge è xíng yǐng xiǎng le hěn duō dì fāng.
This evil conduct affected many places.
恶行。
Jì zhě bào dào le tā de è xíng.
The reporter reported his wicked deeds.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

“恶” means evil or wicked, and “行” means conduct or deed, denoting wicked behavior.

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 惡; 恶 is its simplified writing.

亞心惡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

亞

亞yā惡è

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

The traditional form 惡 pairs 心 (heart) as the meaning part with 亞 (yā) as the sound part; the simplified 恶 is a later shorthand.

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

彳亍行

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

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