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黑钱 (hēi qián) — ill-gotten money; dirty money; bribe

Definition

Money obtained through illegal or corrupt means, such as bribery or criminal trade. Pairs with verbs like 收, 洗, or 赚; do not confuse with 钱 (money in general) or 黑 (black alone).

noun
ill-gotten moneydirty moneybribe

Examples

  • 黑钱。
    Tā yīn wèi shōu hēi qián bèi zhuā le.
    He was caught for taking dirty money.
  • 黑钱。
    Zhè xiē hēi qián shì tōng guò fēi fǎ jiāo yì dé lái de.
    This dirty money came from illegal transactions.
  • 黑钱。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá zhè bǐ hēi qián de lái yuán.
    The police are investigating the source of this dirty money.

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hēiblack
钱qiánmoney

The 黑 (black) and 钱 (money) combine to mean dirty money.

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 →

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 錢; 钱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal; gold; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān錢qián
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 錢 combines 金, meaning metal or money, with 戔, which gives the sound; the simplified 钱 is a later shorthand.

Open 钱 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceMoney & Currency

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