暴力团 (bào lì tuán) — organized crime syndicate (especially the yakuza)

Definition

A loanword from Japanese referring specifically to the yakuza or similar organized crime syndicates in Japan. In Chinese contexts it generally refers to Japanese-style organized crime groups.

noun
organized crime syndicate (especially the yakuza)

Examples

  • 暴力团。
    Zhè ge bào lì tuán kòng zhì le dāng dì de dì xià jīng jì.
    This organized crime syndicate controls the local underground economy.
  • 暴力团。
    Jǐng fāng zuì jìn dǎ jī le yí gè dà xíng bào lì tuán.
    The police recently cracked down on a large yakuza group.
  • 暴力团。
    Rì běn zhèng fǔ zhèng zài jiā qiáng duì bào lì tuán de jiān guǎn.
    The Japanese government is strengthening oversight of organized crime syndicates.

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.

暴力violent force
暴bàoviolent力lìforce
偏正Modifier + head
团tuángroup

“暴” and “力” give violent force, while “团” gives a group, making a violent organization.

Characters in this word

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

The earliest form paired 虎 and 戈, a tiger and a weapon. The later 暴 came from a picture of hands drying something in the sun.

Open 暴 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →

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 團; 团 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān團tuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 團 combines 囗 as a meaning part with 專 as a sound part; the story is about 團, not about 团.

Open 团 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.