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私藏 (sī cáng) — to possess or store something illegally (e.g., weapons, smuggled goods); to have a private collection (of items, often valuable or rare)

Definition

A verb with two related senses: 'to possess/store something illegal' (weapons, smuggled or unregistered goods) and 'to keep a private collection' (of valuables or rarities). Both senses stress items hidden from authorities or the public eye.

verb
to possess or store something illegally (e.g., weapons, smuggled goods)to have a private collection (of items, often valuable or rare)

Examples

  • 私藏。
    Tā yīn wèi sī cáng qiāng zhī bèi pàn le xíng.
    He was sentenced for illegally possessing firearms.
  • 私藏。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén sī cáng le hěn duō yóu piào hé cáng pǐn.
    This elderly man has a private collection of many stamps and collectibles.
  • 私藏。
    Jǐng fāng fā xiàn tā sī cáng le dà liàng wèi jīng dēng jì de wén wù.
    The police discovered that he had privately stored a large number of unregistered cultural relics.

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.

私sīprivate
藏cángstore

私 for private plus 藏 for storing gives to keep something secretly.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
臧
臧zāng藏cáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

藏 is made from 艸 (grass) and 臧, where 臧 gives the sound.

Open 藏 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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