囚禁

qiújìn
verb #7,391

Meanings

  1. 1 to imprison; to hold captive
  2. 2 to confine; to incarcerate

Characters

Both characters relate to confinement. 囚 is a pictograph of a person (人) inside an enclosure (囗) - literally a person trapped in a box.

Examples

HSK 3
Tā bèi qiújìn le shí nián.
He was imprisoned for ten years.
HSK 6
Nàge guówáng bèi qiújìn zài tǎ lǐ.
That king was imprisoned in the tower.
HSK 7-9
Qiújìn wúgū de rén shì búduì de.
It's wrong to imprison innocent people.

Tips

memory
The character 囚 is one of the most visually intuitive Chinese characters: a person (人) inside a box (囗) = prisoner.

Stroke Order

囚 qiú
禁 jìn