违约金 (wéi yuē jīn) — liquidated damages; contractual penalty for bre…

Definition

noun

liquidated damagescontractual penalty for breach of agreement

违约金。
Hé tong zhōng míng què guī dìng le wéi yuē jīn de jīn é.
The contract clearly stipulates the amount of liquidated damages.
，违约金。
Yóu yú tā tí qián jiě yuē, gōng sī yāo qiú tā zhī fù wéi yuē jīn.
Because he terminated the contract early, the company demanded he pay liquidated damages.
违约金。
Fǎ yuàn pàn jué bèi gào zhī fù wéi yuē jīn shí wàn yuán.
The court ordered the defendant to pay 100,000 yuan in liquidated damages.

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.

违约break an agreement

违wéiviolate约yuēagreement

动宾Verb + object

违约 (break an agreement) with 金 (money) gives a contractual penalty.

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 違; 违 is its simplified writing.

辶韋違

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

韋

韋wéi違wéi

Same sound today

The traditional form 違 pairs 辶, which shows walking, with 韋 to give the sound. The simplified 违 is a later shorthand.

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 約; 约 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìrope

Sound part声符shēngfú

勺

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

The traditional form 約 uses 糸, a rope, for its meaning and 勺 for its sound; the simplified 约 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.