明令禁止 (míng lìng jìn zhǐ) — to explicitly prohibit (by official decree); to forbid by law or regulation

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning 'to explicitly prohibit by official decree' — used in laws, regulations, and government announcements, not in everyday speech.

verb
to explicitly prohibit (by official decree)to forbid by law or regulation

Examples

  • 明令禁止。
    Zhèng fǔ míng lìng jìn zhǐ zài gōng gòng chǎng suǒ xī yān.
    The government explicitly prohibits smoking in public places.
  • 明令禁止。
    Xué xiào míng lìng jìn zhǐ xué shēng xié dài shǒu jī jìn rù kǎo chǎng.
    The school explicitly forbids students from bringing phones into the exam room.
  • 明令禁止，。
    Zhè xiàng guī dìng yǐ jīng míng lìng jìn zhǐ, rèn hé rén bù dé wéi fǎn.
    This regulation has been explicitly prohibited — no one may violate it.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

  • 亼亼jí
  • 卩卩jié

In 令, the upper 亼 is an open mouth and the lower 卩 is a kneeling person, together showing someone giving orders.

Open 令 →

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
示示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
林
林lín禁jìn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

禁 has 林 above 示, an altar. The 林 part gives the sound, and the altar part connects the character to taboo or restricted matters.

Open 禁 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

止 was drawn as a footprint pointing up, with three toes and a sole, originally showing a foot.

Open 止 →

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