死罪 (sǐ zuì) — capital offense; crime punishable by death; (historical) a self-deprecating phrase used in memorials to the emperor, meaning 'I beg your forgiveness'
Definition
Literally 'death crime' — a capital offense (historical / literary). The second sense, a humble self-deprecating phrase in memorials to the emperor begging forgiveness, is a fixed historical usage, not its core meaning.
noun
capital offensecrime punishable by death(historical) a self-deprecating phrase used in memorials to the emperormeaning 'I beg your forgiveness'
Measure word · 个
Examples
- 死罪，。Tā fàn le sǐ zuì, bèi pàn chǔ sǐ xíng.He committed a capital offense and was sentenced to death.
- 死罪。Gǔ dài chén zǐ zài zòu zhāng zhōng cháng yòng sǐ zuì zhè yì qiān cí.Ancient ministers often used the humble phrase 'diezui' in their memorials.
- ，死罪。Xiàn dài hàn yǔ zhōng, sǐ zuì zhè ge cí yǐ jīng hěn shǎo yòng le.In modern Chinese, the word 'diezui' is rarely used anymore.
Appears in
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