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申辩 (shēn biàn) — to defend oneself, to plead one's case (usually in a formal or legal context)

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to defend oneself' in a legal or quasi-legal context — stronger and more official than 解释 ('explain') or 辩护 ('defend on someone's behalf').

verb
to defend oneselfto plead one's case (usually in a formal or legal context)

Examples

  • ，申辩。
    Zài fǎ tíng shàng, tā wèi zì jǐ shēn biàn.
    In court, he defended himself.
  • 申辩。
    Lǜ shī jiàn yì tā bú yào jí yú shēn biàn.
    The lawyer advised him not to rush to defend himself.
  • 申辩。
    Tā zài tīng zhèng huì shàng zuò le xiáng xì shēn biàn.
    He gave a detailed defense at the hearing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

申shēnstate/explain
辩biànargue/defend

申 means to state or explain, and 辩 means to argue or defend, so together they mean plead one's case.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a picture of a bolt of lightning. It was the original character for lightning and spirit.

Open 申 →

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 辯; 辩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
辡
辡biàn辯biàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 辯 pairs 言, meaning say, with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 辩 is a later shorthand.

Open 辩 →
Appears in
Law & Justice

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