证人席 (zhèng rén xí) — witness box; witness stand

Definition

noun

witness boxwitness stand

Measure word · 个

证人席，。
Zhèng rén zuò zài zhèng rén xí shàng, děng dài tí wèn.
The witness sits in the witness box, waiting to be questioned.
证人席。
Lǜ shī xiàng zhèng rén xí shàng de zhèng rén tí chū le yí gè wèn tí.
The lawyer asked the witness in the witness box a question.
证人席。
zhèng rén xí Wèi yú fǎ tíng de zhèng zhōng yāng.
The witness box is located in the center of the courtroom.

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.

证人witness

偏正Modifier + head

席xíseat/stand

证人席 combines 证人 (witness) with 席 (seat/stand), meaning the stand for a witness.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Appears in