非法所得 (fēi fǎ suǒ dé) — illegal gains; unlawful income; illicit proceeds

Definition

Legal/financial term meaning 'illicit gains' — money or property obtained through illegal acts, subject to confiscation. The verb 所得 simply means 'income/gains'; combined with 非法 it becomes a fixed formal phrase.

idiom
illegal gainsunlawful incomeillicit proceeds

Examples

  • 非法所得。
    Tā bèi pàn mò shōu suǒ yǒu fēi fǎ suǒ dé.
    He was sentenced to confiscate all illegal gains.
  • 非法所得。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá tā de fēi fǎ suǒ dé lái yuán.
    Police are investigating the source of his illegal gains.
  • 非法所得。
    Gōng sī yīn qǔ dé fēi fǎ suǒ dé ér bèi fá kuǎn.
    The company was fined for obtaining illegal gains.

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.

非法illegal
非fēinot法fǎlaw
偏正Modifier + head
所得what is obtained
所suǒwhat得déobtain
主谓Subject + predicate

非法所得 joins 非法 (not lawful) and 所得 (what is obtained) for gains from unlawful activity.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 非 is drawn from two wings facing opposite directions. It later came to be used for going against or not being.

Open 非 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

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