禁绝 (jìn jué) — to completely ban, to eradicate, to prohibit thoroughly

Definition

Strong written/formal verb meaning 'to completely ban, to eradicate' — emphasizes total prohibition, stronger than the everyday 禁止. Common in policy and government contexts.

verb
to completely banto eradicateto prohibit thoroughly

Examples

  • 禁绝。
    Zhèng fǔ jué xīn jìn jué dú pǐn jiāo yì.
    The government is determined to completely ban drug trafficking.
  • 禁绝。
    Zhè ge guó jiā yǐ jīng jìn jué le suǒ yǒu xíng shì de nú lì zhì dù.
    This country has eradicated all forms of slavery.
  • ，禁绝。
    Wèi le huán bǎo, bì xū jìn jué fēi fǎ bǔ liè.
    For environmental protection, illegal hunting must be completely banned.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

禁jìnprohibit
绝juécut off

禁 (prohibit) + 绝 (cut off) means to ban something thoroughly until it is gone.

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
示示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
林
林lín禁jìn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

禁 has 林 above 示, an altar. The 林 part gives the sound, and the altar part connects the character to taboo or restricted matters.

Open 禁 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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