罪犯
zuì fàn · HSK 7
criminal
🦹 罪 (crime) + 犯 (commit/offend) = one who commits a crime = criminal
罪 zuì means crime or guilt; 犯 fàn means to violate or commit an offense. Together the compound names the person who does the violating: a criminal. 犯 also appears alone meaning offender.
罪 — net 罒 (top) + wrong 非 (bottom)
罪 combines 罒 (net) over 非 (wrong), suggesting catching wrongdoing in a net. Originally the character 辠 (with 自 nose + 辛 punishment) meant 'crime,' but Emperor Qin Shi Huang found 辠 too similar to 皇 (emperor) and replaced it with 罪. Today it means crime, guilt, or sin.
犯 — dog radical 犭 + 㔾 (kneeling person)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: the dog radical 犭 suggested an animal attacking, while 㔾 (a kneeling figure) hinted at the sound and the idea of submission or transgression. The meaning broadened from 'a beast attacking a person' to 'to violate, offend, commit (a crime),' giving modern senses like 'criminal' and 'to infringe.'