赔偿费 (péi cháng fèi) — (legal) damages; indemnity, compensation money

Definition

Formal legal/insurance term for 'damages' or 'compensation money' paid to a harmed party. Pair it with 赔偿 'compensate' (the verb) — the noun 赔偿费 is the money itself.

noun
(legal) damagesindemnitycompensation money

Examples

  • 赔偿费。
    Tā huò dé le wǔ wàn yuán de péi cháng fèi.
    He obtained 50,000 yuan in damages.
  • 赔偿费。
    Bǎo xiǎn gōng sī zhī fù le quán bù de péi cháng fèi.
    The insurance company paid the full indemnity.
  • 赔偿费。
    Fǎ yuàn pàn jué duì fāng zhī fù péi cháng fèi.
    The court ordered the other party to pay compensation.

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.

赔偿compensate
赔péicompensate偿chángrepay
联合Side by side
费fèifee/cost

赔偿 (make good/repay) with 费 (cost/fee) means money paid as compensation.

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 賠; 赔 is its simplified writing.

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

In the traditional form 賠, 貝 (shell; money) shows the idea of making amends, and 咅 supplies the sound; the simplified 赔 is a later shorthand.

Open 赔 →

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 償; 偿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
賞
賞shǎng償cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 償 pairs 亻 (person) with 賞 as the sound part; the simplified 偿 is a later shorthand, not a historical component breakdown.

Open 偿 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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