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黑社会 (hēi shè huì) — criminal underworld; organized crime syndicate

Definition

A term for the criminal underworld — organized crime groups like the mafia or triads. Carries a strong negative sense and is used in news and legal contexts, not casual speech.

noun
criminal underworldorganized crime syndicate
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 黑社会。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài yán lì dǎ jī hēi shè huì huó dòng.
    The police are cracking down hard on organized crime activities.
  • 黑社会。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng shù le hēi shè huì nèi bù de ēn yuàn qíng chóu.
    This movie tells the story of the grudges and affections within the criminal underworld.
  • 黑社会。
    Tā yīn wèi jiā rù hēi shè huì ér bèi pàn le shí nián yǒu qī tú xíng.
    He was sentenced to ten years in prison for joining an organized crime syndicate.

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.

黑hēidark
社会society
社shècommunity会huìassociation
联合Coordinate

黑 means dark or criminal, and 社会 is society, together naming the criminal side of society.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

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

社 joins 示 (god; deity) and 土 (soil), so its shape is about the god of the land.

Open 社 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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