赌咒 (dǔ zhòu) — to swear an oath; to vow

Definition

赌咒 (dǔzhòu) means to swear a solemn oath, often in a dramatic or public way. Similar to 发誓, but emphasizes invoking a curse or penalty if the oath is broken.

verb
to swear an oathto vow

Examples

  • 赌咒，。
    Tā dāng zhòng dǔ zhòu fā shì, jué bú zài fàn tóng yàng de cuò wù.
    He publicly swore an oath, vowing never to make the same mistake again.
  • 赌咒。
    Tā dǔ zhòu shuō zì jǐ cóng wèi shuō guò nà yàng de huà.
    She swore that she had never said such a thing.
  • 赌咒。
    Gǔ dài rén cháng yòng dǔ zhòu lái biǎo míng zhēn xīn.
    Ancient people often used oaths to show their sincerity.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

赌dǔstake
咒zhòucurse/oath

赌 'stake' with 咒 'curse/oath' gives to swear.

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 賭; 赌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě賭dǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賭 combines 貝 (shell; money) with 者, and this shape expresses the meaning to wager or to bet. The simplified 赌 is a shorthand.

Open 赌 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 咒 →

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