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滥杀 (làn shā) — to kill indiscriminately; to massacre

Definition

A formal verb meaning to kill indiscriminately or massacre — used in news, legal, and historical writing about war or atrocities, not casual speech.

verb
to kill indiscriminatelyto massacre

Examples

  • ，滥杀。
    Zhàn zhēng qī jiān, dí jūn làn shā le xǔ duō wú gū de píng mín.
    During the war, the enemy killed many innocent civilians indiscriminately.
  • 滥杀。
    Guó jì fǎ jìn zhǐ zài rèn hé qíng kuàng xià làn shā píng mín.
    International law prohibits the indiscriminate killing of civilians under any circumstances.
  • 滥杀。
    Nà ge shí qī fā shēng le dà guī mó de làn shā shì jiàn.
    A large-scale massacre occurred during that period.

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.

滥lànindiscriminate
杀shākill

滥 (indiscriminate) and 杀 (kill) together mean killing indiscriminately.

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 濫; 滥 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
監
監jiān濫làn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 濫 pairs 水, water, with 監 to give the sound; the simplified 滥 is a later shorthand.

Open 滥 →

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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