惯犯 (guàn fàn) — habitual offender, hardened criminal

Definition

noun

habitual offenderhardened criminal

Measure word · 个

惯犯。
Jǐng fāng dài bǔ le yì míng guàn fàn.
The police arrested a habitual offender.
惯犯。
Zhè ge guàn fàn yǐ jīng dì sān cì jìn rù jiān yù le.
This hardened criminal has entered prison for the third time.
惯犯。
Dǎ jī guàn fàn shì wéi hù shè huì ān quán de zhòng yào gōng zuò.
Cracking down on habitual offenders is an important task for maintaining social safety.

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.

犯fànoffender

惯 gives the habitual quality, and 犯 names the offender.

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 慣; 惯 is its simplified writing.

忄貫慣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

貫

貫guàn慣guàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 慣 shows 忄 (heart) beside 貫, which gives the sound; the simplified 惯 is a shorthand. Habit is what one does by heart.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

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

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

Appears in