狱 (yù): prison
狱 (yù) is a Chinese character meaning “prison.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 犭 (structural), 讠 (structural) and 犬 (structural). It ranks #1586 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 狱 a guard dog 犭 talking 讠 to a prisoner 犬. Its radical form 犭 (dog) appears in many related characters such as 狗 (gǒu, dog), 猫 (māo, cat), 状 (zhuàng, (bound form) form).
Definitions
- prison
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA guard dog 犭 talking 讠 to a prisoner 犬
Decomposition: ⿰犭⿰讠犬 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 监狱noun | jiān yù | prison |
| 地狱noun | dì yù | hell |
| 出狱verb | chū yù | to be released from prison |
| 越狱verb | yuè yù | to break out of prison |
| 入狱verb | rù yù | to go to jail |
| 狱警 | yù jǐng | prison officer |
| 牢狱noun | láo yù | prison |
| 炼狱noun | liàn yù | purgatory |
| 人间地狱noun | rén jiān dì yù | hell on earth (idiom) |
| 狱卒noun | yù zú | jailer (old) |
| 锒铛入狱phrase | láng dāng rù yù | lit. to get shackled and thrown in jail (idiom) |
| 越狱犯 | yuè yù fàn | escaped prisoner |
| 劫狱verb | jié yù | to break into jail |
| 冤狱noun | yuān yù | unjust charge or verdict |
| 下狱verb | xià yù | to imprison |
狱 appears in 32 compound words: 9 as the first character, 78 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 狱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
监狱是关押犯人的地方。
Jiānyù shì guānyā fànrén de dìfang.
Prison is a place for detaining criminals.
帮受刑人夹带香菸茶叶 新竹监狱前管理员二审判4年半
bāng shòu xíng rén jiā dài xiāng 菸 chá xié xīn zhú jiān yù qián guǎn lǐ yuán èr shěn pàn 4 nián bàn
Helping inmates carry cigarettes and tea The former administrator of Hsinchu Prison was sentenced to four and a half years in the second trial
美智库抛“地狱景象”具体蓝图 助台湾不靠美军取胜
měi zhì kù pāo dì yù jǐng xiàng jù tǐ lán tú zhù tái wān bù kào měi jūn qǔ shèng
U.S. think tanks throw out a specific blueprint for a "hell scene" to help Taiwan win without relying on the U.S. military
... 18年“勾外罪”提早服刑 最快92岁出狱
. . . nián gōu wài zuì tí zǎo fú xíng zuì kuài suì chū yù
... 18 years of "hooking offense" early sentence and released from prison at the age of 92 at the earliest
反送中理工男 写下漫长狱中“课”
fǎn sòng zhōng lǐ gōng nán xiě xià màn cháng yù zhōng kè
Anti-extradition to China Polytechnic man wrote a long prison "lesson"
汤姆是如何出狱的？
Tāngmǔ shì rúhé chūyù de?
How did Tom get out of jail?
你的灵魂已坠进了地狱。
Nǐ de línghún yǐ zhuì jìn le dìyù.
Your soul has been condemned to hell.
监狱生活比做畜牲还不如。
Jiānyù shēnghuó bǐ zuò chùshēng háibùrú.
Life in prison is worse than the life of an animal.
汤姆在监狱里待了三年。
Tāngmǔ zài jiānyù lǐ dài le sān nián.
Tom has spent the past three years in prison.
地狱空空荡荡，魔鬼都在人间。
Dìyù kōngkōng-dàngdàng, móguǐ dōu zài rénjiān.
Hell is empty, and all the devils are here!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 狱 (yù)?
Is 狱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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