自刎 (zì wěn) — to cut one's own throat; to commit suicide by slitting one's own throat

Definition

A literary verb meaning to kill oneself by slitting the throat, used in historical and classical-style narratives. It implies a deliberate, often heroic or honor-driven act, unlike the everyday 自杀 which covers any method of suicide.

verb
to cut one's own throatto commit suicide by slitting one's own throat

Examples

  • 自刎。
    Tā zài chéng pò zhī shí xuǎn zé le zì wěn.
    He chose to cut his own throat when the city fell.
  • ，自刎。
    Qū yuán zuì hòu tóu jiāng ér sǐ, bìng méi yǒu zì wěn.
    Qu Yuan ultimately drowned himself in the river; he did not cut his own throat.
  • 自刎。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu bù shǎo jiāng jūn zài zhàn bài hòu zì wěn míng zhì.
    In history, many generals cut their own throats after defeat to express their resolve.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìself
刎wěncut throat

自 points to the person, 刎 is the throat-cutting act.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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
刀刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù刎wěn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刎 adds 刀, a knife, to 勿, which gives the sound. Earlier, 勿 alone was used for this word, and 刀 was added later.

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