服罪 (fú zuì) — to plead guilty; to admit to a crime

Definition

服罪 (fú zuì) is a formal legal verb meaning 'to plead guilty / admit to a crime,' used of a defendant in court rather than in casual speech.

verb
to plead guiltyto admit to a crime

Examples

  • 服罪。
    Bèi gào zài fǎ tíng shàng fú zuì le.
    The defendant pleaded guilty in court.
  • 服罪，。
    Tā zuì zhōng fú zuì, jiē shòu le pàn jué.
    He finally admitted to the crime and accepted the verdict.
  • 服罪。
    Lǜ shī jiàn yì dāng shì rén fú zuì yǐ jiǎn qīng xíng fá.
    The lawyer advised the client to plead guilty to reduce the sentence.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

服fúadmit
罪zuìcrime

服 means admit or submit, and 罪 means crime; together they mean admit to a crime.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
凡凡fántray
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬝
𠬝𠬝服fú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Open 服 →

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

罪 puts 罒 (a net, written fully as 网) over 非 (mistake).

Open 罪 →

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