誅ちゅう

ちゅ

う

Meanings

Historical or formal term for capital punishment, often implying punishment for a crime. Rare in modern everyday language; more commonly expressed as 死刑.

古ふるい法ほう律りつでは、重じゅう罪ざいに対たいして誅ちゅうが科かされることがあった。
Under old laws, the death penalty could be imposed for serious crimes.

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Kanji

誅death penalty

Related words

死し刑けい
死刑 is the standard modern term for the death penalty. 誅 is an archaic or literary equivalent, rarely used in contemporary Japanese.

Word family· 9

天てん誅ちゅう
heaven's punishment; divine punishment · well-deserved punishment; just punishment
誅ちゅう殺さつ
execution of a criminal; putting to death as punishment
族ぞく誅ちゅう
execution of an offender's entire family
筆ひっ誅ちゅう
written denunciation; condemnation in writing
誅ちゅう伐ばつ
punishing criminals; executing justice

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誅ちゅう戮りく
execution of a criminal; death penalty
誅ちゅう求きゅう
oppressive exaction; harsh levying
誅ちゅう滅めつ
eradication of sinful people; smiting of the wicked
誅ちゅうする
put to death; execute; punish with death

Written forms

誅ちゅうUsage20%
Rare kanji form; primarily used in historical or legal contexts. The word is not commonly written in kana.
ちゅうUsage80%

Etymology

The kanji 誅 originally meant 'to punish' or 'to execute' in classical Chinese. The Japanese reading ちゅう is derived from the historical Chinese pronunciation. The exact historical derivation of the word's usage in Japanese is uncertain; it appears mainly in older texts.