thụ hình

Definition

1. Verb (formal, archaic):
   • To be executed / to undergo capital punishment: To be put to death as a legal penalty for a crime.
   • To serve a (severe) sentence: To undergo or endure a legally imposed punishment, historically often referring to corporal or capital punishment.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Tên phản bội đã phải thụ hình trước sự chứng kiến của dân chúng. (The traitor was executed in front of the public.)
  • Theo bản án, tội phạm sẽ thụ hình vào lúc bình minh. (According to the sentence, the criminal will be executed at dawn.)
  • Trong chế độ cũ, nhiều người đã thụ hình oan. (Under the old regime, many people were wrongfully executed.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "thụ hình" is now considered formal and archaic. In modern legal and everyday contexts, more specific terms like "bị tử hình" (to be sentenced to death/to be executed) or "bị xử tử" (to be executed) are used.
• It can sometimes be found in historical texts, literature, or formal legal documents referring to past practices.

Variants and Related Words

• Tử hình (n/v): death penalty; to execute.
  • Án tử hình đã được tuyên. (The death sentence was pronounced.)
• Xử tử (v): to execute.
  • Hắn bị xử tử bằng hình thức tiêm thuốc độc. (He was executed by lethal injection.)
• Hành hình (v): to carry out an execution.
  • Đao phủ có nhiệm vụ hành hình. (The executioner's duty is to carry out the execution.)

Synonyms

• To be executed: To be put to death as a legal punishment.
• To face the death penalty: To be subject to execution.
• To suffer capital punishment (formal): To undergo the penalty of death.

Related Idioms

• Lên máy chém / lên đoạn đầu đài: To go to the guillotine/scaffold (idiomatic for being executed).
  • Kẻ sát nhân cuối cùng cũng phải lên máy chém. (The murderer finally went to the guillotine.)