Definition

1. Verb:
   • To accept punishment, to give oneself up: "phục tội" refers to the act of voluntarily submitting to the authorities to receive punishment for one's crime or wrongdoing. It implies acknowledging guilt and accepting the consequent penalty.
   • To submit to a sentence: This term specifically denotes the action of surrendering to serve a judicial sentence.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Sau nhiều ngày trốn tránh, kẻ phạm tội cuối cùng đã đến đồn cảnh sát để phục tội. (After many days on the run, the criminal finally went to the police station to give himself up.)
  • Theo luật cũ, người nào tự nguyện phục tội có thể được xem xét giảm án. (According to the old law, those who voluntarily accept punishment may be considered for a reduced sentence.)

Advanced Usage

• This word is marked as archaic (từ cũ) in modern Vietnamese. It is primarily found in historical, legal, or literary contexts describing past practices or in formal, solemn declarations.
  • Trong các bộ phim cổ trang, nhân vật phản diện đôi khi cũng biết ăn năn và phục tội. (In historical dramas, the villain sometimes knows remorse and submits to punishment.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phục (verb): To submit, to obey. This root conveys the sense of submission or compliance.
• Tội (noun): Crime, sin, guilt. This root conveys the sense of wrongdoing or offense.
• Đầu thú (verb): To surrender, to turn oneself in (a more modern and common synonym).
• Nhận tội (verb): To confess to a crime, to plead guilty (focuses on admission rather than the act of submitting to punishment).

Synonyms

• Đầu thú: To surrender, to give oneself up.
• Chấp nhận hình phạt: To accept punishment.
• Tự nộp mình: To turn oneself in.

Related Phrases

• Phục tội tử hình: To submit to/accept the death penalty.
  • Phiên tòa kết thúc, bị cáo đành phục tội tử hình. (The trial concluded, and the defendant had to submit to the death penalty.)

Related Idioms

• While "phục tội" itself is not typically part of a common idiom, the concept relates to proverbs about justice and consequence, such as:
  • Ăn cây nào rào cây ấy / Gieo gió gặt bão: These idioms about reaping what you sow conceptually align with the idea of facing consequences, which is central to "phục tội".

1. (từ cũ) Accept punishment, give oneself up