赦免权 (shè miǎn quán) — right of pardon; power to grant clemency or amnesty

Definition

noun
right of pardonpower to grant clemency or amnesty
Measure word · 项

Examples

  • 赦免权。
    Zǒng tǒng yōng yǒu shè miǎn quán.
    The president holds the power of pardon.
  • 赦免权。
    Xiàn fǎ míng què guī dìng le shè miǎn quán de fàn wéi.
    The constitution clearly defines the scope of the pardon power.
  • 赦免权。
    Tā zuì zhōng huò dé le shè miǎn quán.
    He ultimately received clemency.

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.

赦免pardon
赦shèpardon免miǎnrelease
联合Side by side
权quánright

赦 and 免 together express pardoning, and 权 adds the sense of a legal right.

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.

Open 赦 →

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.

Open 免 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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