() — (bound morpheme) prison, jail; (bound morpheme) lawsuit, criminal case (in legal compounds)

Definition

狱 is a bound morpheme meaning 'prison' (as in 监狱) or 'lawsuit/criminal case' (as in 冤狱, 越狱). It never stands alone — always combine it with another character to form a legal-term compound.

bound form
(bound morpheme) prisonjail(bound morpheme) lawsuitcriminal case (in legal compounds)

Examples

  • Tā yīn wèi fàn zuì bèi sòng jìn le jiān yù.
    He was sent to prison for committing a crime.
  • Zhè ge àn jiàn shè jí yuān yù, xū yào chóng xīn diào chá.
    This case involves an unjust verdict and needs to be reinvestigated.
  • Yuè yù shì fēi cháng yán zhòng de fàn zuì xíng wéi.
    Breaking out of prison is a very serious crime.

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