陷 (xiàn) — to sink into, to get stuck in (physical substance); to cave in; to frame (with false charges), to incriminate falsely; to capture (a city in battle); to fall to the enemy; to defect
Definition
Verb covering three senses: physically sinking/cave-in (overlaps with 沉, which focuses on objects submerging in liquid); framing someone with false charges (cognate 诬陷 is a direct synonym); a city or soldiers falling to an enemy.
verb
to sink intoto get stuck in (physical substance)to cave into frame (with false charges)to incriminate falselyto capture (a city in battle)to fall to the enemyto defect
Easily confused
Examples
- 陷。Tā bù xiǎo xīn yì jiǎo xiàn jìn le xuě kēng.He accidentally sank a foot into a snow pit.
- ，。Tā bèi huài rén xiàn hài le, zuò le jǐ nián láo.He was framed by bad people and spent years in prison.
- ，。Dí jūn gōng lái, shǒu chéng shì bīng fēn fēn xiàn yú dí shǒu.The enemy attacked, and the defending soldiers fell into enemy hands one after another.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
臽
臽xiàn陷xiàn
Same sound today
In 陷, the older form 臽 pictured falling into a trap; 阜 was added later to differentiate it.
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