赦免 (shè miǎn) — to pardon, to remit (punishment)

Definition

Formal/legal verb meaning to officially pardon or reduce a punishment, typically by a head of state or court.

verb

to pardonto remit (punishment)

赦免。
Zǒng tǒng jué dìng shè miǎn suǒ yǒu zhèng zhì fàn.
The president decided to pardon all political prisoners.
赦免。
Fǎ yuàn shè miǎn le tā de bù fen xíng fá.
The court remitted part of his punishment.
。
Gǔ dài huáng dì cháng zài dēng jī shí shí xíng dà shè miǎn.
Ancient emperors often issued a general amnesty upon ascending the throne.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

赦 and 免 both mean to remove or forgive punishment, so together they name a pardon.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pūhand holding a stick

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

亦yì赦shè

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The older form of 赦 paired 亦 as a sound part with 攴, a hand holding a stick; later writing changed the sound part.

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

免 originally drew a man wearing a ceremonial hat. It was later used for meanings such as avoid and exempt.

Appears in