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马贼 (mǎ zéi) — mounted bandit, horse-riding outlaw (historical term for brigands on horseback in northern China)

Definition

Historical term for mounted bandits who robbed caravans on the northern grasslands, especially in Manchuria. You will mainly meet this word in novels and films about the late Qing and early Republic.

noun
mounted bandithorse-riding outlaw (historical term for brigands on horseback in northern China)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 马贼。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō jiǎng de shì qīng cháo mò nián mǎ zéi de gù shi.
    This novel tells the story of mounted bandits in the late Qing dynasty.
  • 马贼。
    Dōng běi de mǎ zéi céng jīng ràng dāng dì bǎi xìng fēi cháng hài pà.
    The mounted bandits of Manchuria once terrified the local people.
  • ，马贼。
    Lì shǐ shàng, mǎ zéi jīng cháng zài cǎo yuán shàng qiǎng jié shāng duì.
    Historically, mounted bandits often robbed caravans on the grasslands.

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.

马mǎhorse
贼zéibandit

The 马 horse specifies the 贼 bandit, giving mounted robbers.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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 賊; 贼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēweapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé賊zéi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 賊 combines 戈, a weapon, with 則 to give the pronunciation; the simplified 贼 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 贼 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceHistory

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