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报复 (bào fù) — to retaliate, to take revenge

Definition

报复 is a hostile 'to retaliate / take revenge' against someone who harmed you. Unlike 报仇 (personal, moral vengeance) or 反击 (military/combat counterattack), 报复 is often used for covert or institutional retaliation.

verb
to retaliateto take revenge
Easily confused

Examples

  • 报复。
    Tā yīn wèi bèi péng you chū mài ér jué dìng bào fù.
    He decided to retaliate because he was betrayed by a friend.
  • 报复。
    Gōng sī bú huì bào fù nà xiē jǔ bào de yuán gōng.
    The company won't retaliate against those whistleblowing employees.
  • ，报复。
    Rú guǒ duì fāng xiān gōng jī, wǒ men yǒu quán bào fù.
    If the other side attacks first, we have the right to retaliate.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

报bàorepay
复fùreturn

报 and 复 both express returning harm, so together they mean to retaliate.

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 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

  • 㚔㚔㚔handcuffs
  • 𠬝𠬝𠬝to subdue

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.

Open 报 →

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 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →
Appears in
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