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残杀 (cán shā) — to murder (cruelly); to massacre, to slaughter

Definition

残杀 emphasizes cruelty and brutality in killing, more extreme than ordinary 杀 (kill) and on the scale of a 屠杀 (massacre). Used for atrocities against civilians or large groups.

verb
to murder (cruelly)to massacreto slaughter

Examples

  • ，残杀。
    Zhàn zhēng qī jiān, xǔ duō wú gū píng mín zāo dào cán shā.
    During the war, many innocent civilians were massacred.
  • 残杀。
    Tā men cán rěn dì cán shā le zì jǐ de tóng bāo.
    They brutally murdered their own compatriots.
  • 残杀。
    Nà chǎng chōng tū dǎo zhì shù qiān rén cǎn zāo cán shā.
    That conflict caused thousands of people to be brutally killed.

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.

残cáncruel
杀shākill

“残” means cruel and “杀” means kill; killing cruelly gives massacre.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殘; 残 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎivicious, bones
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān殘cán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 殘 pairs 歹, a bone shape for injury, with 戔 for its sound; the simplified 残 is a later shorthand.

Open 残 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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