被告 (bèi gào) — defendant (in a lawsuit)

Definition

The person being accused or sued in court. Pairs with 原告 ('plaintiff'): in any lawsuit the 原告 sues the 被告.

noun

defendant (in a lawsuit)

Measure word · 名

被告，。
Zài bèi gào bèi xuān pàn qián, lǜ shī wèi tā zuò le zuì hòu biàn hù.
Before the defendant was sentenced, the lawyer made the final defense.
被告。
Yuán gào hé bèi gào zài fǎ tíng shàng gè zhí yì cí.
The plaintiff and the defendant each stuck to their own story in court.
被告。
Fǎ guān xuān bù bèi gào wú zuì shì fàng.
The judge announced the defendant was acquitted and released.

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.

被告 brings together 被, indicating someone is acted upon, and 告, accuse, to mean the person accused in a lawsuit.

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

衣衣yīclothing

Sound part声符shēngfú

皮

皮pí被bèi

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

被 pairs 衣 (clothing) with 皮, which gives the sound.

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Appears in