重犯 (zhòng fàn) — major criminal, serious offender

Definition

noun

major criminalserious offender

Measure word · 个

重犯。
Nà ge zhòng fàn zhōng yú bèi zhuā zhù le.
That major criminal was finally caught.
重犯。
Fǎ yuàn duì zhè ge zhòng fàn pàn le zhòng xíng.
The court sentenced this serious offender to a heavy penalty.
重犯。
Jǐng fāng zhèng zài zhuī bǔ yì míng chí qiāng zhòng fàn.
The police are pursuing an armed major criminal.

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.

犯fàncriminal

重 gives serious and 犯 gives criminal, so the word means a serious offender.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

東

東dōng重zhòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

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

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.