贼人 (zéi rén) — thief (used in literary or formal contexts)

Definition

Literary/formal word for 'thief,' used in classical texts and written contexts rather than everyday speech.

noun
thief (used in literary or formal contexts)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 贼人。
    Nà ge zéi rén chèn tiān hēi liū jìn le yuàn zi.
    That thief slipped into the courtyard under cover of darkness.
  • 贼人。
    Gǔ shū shàng jì zǎi le hěn duō zhuā zéi rén de gù shi.
    Ancient books record many stories about catching thieves.
  • 贼人。
    Zhè xiē zéi rén zhuān tōu fù guì rén jiā de cái wù.
    These thieves specialize in stealing valuables from wealthy households.

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.

贼zéithief
人rénperson

“贼” (thief) and “人” (person) combine to mean a person who steals.

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 賊; 贼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēweapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé賊zéi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 賊 combines 戈, a weapon, with 則 to give the pronunciation; the simplified 贼 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 贼 →

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.

Open 人 →

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