战犯 (zhàn fàn) — war criminal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

war criminal

Measure word · 个

Examples

战犯。
Nà ge zhàn fàn zài fǎ tíng shàng chéng rèn le zì jǐ de zuì xíng.
That war criminal admitted his crimes in court.
战犯。
Guó jì zǔ zhī zhèng zài zhuī bǔ èr zhàn qī jiān de zhàn fàn.
International organizations are hunting for war criminals from World War II.
战犯。
Rén men yǒng yuǎn bú huì wàng jì zhè xiē zhàn fàn fàn xià de bào xíng.
People will never forget the atrocities committed by these war criminals.

Origin

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fàncriminal

战犯 puts 战 meaning war before 犯 meaning criminal to denote a war criminal.

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.

占戈战

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

占

占zhàn战zhàn

Same sound today

战 pairs 占, which gives its sound, with 戈, a weapon.

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

Crime & Police Military & Defense

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