法警 (fǎ jǐng) — bailiff; judicial police (court enforcement officer)

Definition

noun
bailiffjudicial police (court enforcement officer)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 法警
    Fǎ tíng shàng, fǎ jǐng fù zé wéi chí zhì xù.
    In the courtroom, the bailiff is responsible for maintaining order.
  • 法警
    Liǎng míng fǎ jǐng bǎ bèi gào rén dài jìn le fǎ tíng.
    Two judicial police officers brought the defendant into the courtroom.
  • 法警
    Tā bì yè hòu chéng le yì míng fǎ jǐng.
    After graduation, he became a bailiff.

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.

jǐngpolice

A 警 connected with 法, law enforcement in court.

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
Written in full asshuǐwater
zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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
yánspoken language, speech
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

警 places 言 (speech) below 敬; 敬 gives the sound.

Open 警 →

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