认罪 (rèn zuì) — to admit guilt, to confess (to a crime) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

To admit guilt or confess to a crime, typically in a legal or courtroom context. 认错 is the everyday 'to admit a mistake' — 认罪 is specifically for criminal wrongdoing.

verb

to admit guiltto confess (to a crime)

Examples

，认罪。
Zài fǎ tíng shàng, tā dāng zhòng rèn zuì.
In court, he publicly admitted his guilt.
。
Fàn zuì xián yí rén yǐ jīng rèn le zuì.
The criminal suspect has already confessed.
，。
Tā rèn guò yí cì zuì, dàn hòu lái yòu fān gòng le.
He confessed once, but later retracted his confession.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

“认” means admit, “罪” means guilt or crime; together it means to admit guilt.

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.

讠人认

Meaning part形符xíngfú

讠Written in full as言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén认rèn

Same sound today

The left part 讠 shows speech, and the right part 人 gives the sound.

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

罒非罪

罒网wǎngnet
非非fēimistake

罪 puts 罒 (a net, written fully as 网) over 非 (mistake).

Appears in

Crime & Police 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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