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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

罪魁禍首

/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹ kʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵ xu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
ringleader; main culprit; principal offender
  • 罪魁祸首
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Origin

The phrase 罪魁禍首 is formed by combining four characters. The character 罪 means crime or vice and contains the components 网 (net) and 非 (not be; is not; not). The character 魁 means first, leading, or best; it uses 斗 (a dipper or cup-like wine vessel) as a semantic component and 鬼 (ghost; apparition; spirit) as a phonetic component.

Further, 禍 means disaster, misfortune, or calamity. It is composed of the semantic component 示 (to show; to reveal; to indicate; to notify; to instruct) and the phonetic component 咼 (slanting). The component 咼 itself consists of the semantic component 口 (mouth) and the phonetic component 冎 (bone). Finally, the character 首 means head and is the simplified form of 𩠐.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

罪魁禍首由「罪」、「魁」、「禍」、「首」四個字組成。其中，「罪」包含「網」與「非」兩個部分；「魁」字由表示意義的「斗」（古代一種酒器）與表示聲音的「鬼」組成；「禍」字結合了表示意義的「示」與表示聲音的「咼」；「首」則是「𩠐」的簡化形式。

在字形結構中，「咼」字包含表示意義的「口」與表示聲音的「冎」。這些字彙共同構成此詞，用以描述犯罪的首要人物或造成災難的主要原因。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese罪 “crime; vice”
    • ideaChinese网 “net”
    • ideaChinese非 “not be; is not; not”
  • characterChinese魁 “first; leading; best”
    • soundChinese鬼 “ghost; apparition; spirit (Classifier: 隻／只)”
    • meaningChinese斗 “a dipper or cup-like object, used in ancient China as a wine vessel”
  • characterChinese禍 “disaster; misfortune; calamity”
    • meaningChinese示 “to show; to reveal; to indicate; to notify; to instruct”
    • soundChinese咼 “slanting”
      • soundChinese冎 “bone”
      • meaningChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”
  • characterChinese首 “head”
    • simplified fromChinese𩠐
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. ringleader; main culprit; principal offender

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 領導或策劃作惡犯罪的首要人物，亦指引發某事的主要原因。 例：濾過性病毒是引起感冒的罪魁禍首。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0