治罪 (zhì zuì) — to punish (someone) for a crime; to bring to justice

Definition

治罪 means to formally punish someone for a crime — a legal/official term for bringing a person to justice. It refers to the act of imposing punishment on a wrongdoer, not to convicting them.

verb
to punish (someone) for a crimeto bring to justice

Examples

  • 治罪。
    Fǎ yuàn yī fǎ duì tā zhì zuì.
    The court punished him according to law.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge rén fàn le zhòng zuì, bì xū zhì tā de zuì.
    This person committed a serious crime and must be punished.
  • 治罪。
    Sī fǎ jī guān bù néng suí yì zhì zuì.
    Judicial authorities cannot punish arbitrarily.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

治zhìpunish
罪zuìcrime

治 means punish and 罪 means 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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
台
台tái治zhì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

Open 治 →

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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