Chinese word

官司

Pronunciation

Pinyinguān sī

Meaning

  • nounlawsuit

Example

公司和供应商因为质量问题打了官司。gōng sī hé gōng yìng shāng yīn wèi zhì liàng wèn tí dǎ le guān sī

The company and its supplier are involved in a lawsuit over a quality issue.

Illustration for 官司 (lawsuit)

More examples

他为了省钱，选择和对方和解，没有上法庭打官司。tā wèi le shěng qián xuǎn zé hé duì fāng hé jiě méi yǒu shàng fǎ tíng dǎ guān sī

To save money, he chose to settle with the other party instead of filing a lawsuit in court.

Core concept

A conflict turned into a formal case for a court to examine and decide.

Common phrases

  • 打官司dǎ guān sī

    file a lawsuit

  • 打赢官司dǎ yíng guān sī

    win a lawsuit

  • 打输官司dǎ shū guān sī

    lose a lawsuit

Similar words

诉讼sù sòng: A formal legal process for settling a dispute in court.
案件àn jiàn: A specific case or matter handled by a court or investigation.
判决pàn jué: A formal decision that settles a dispute by a court or arbitration body.
审判shěn pàn: The court process of examining evidence and arguments to reach a legal decision.

Definition in Chinese

当事人就民事或刑事争议向法院提出请求，由法院审理并作出裁判的正式法律程序或由此产生的案件。dāng shì rén jiù mín shì huò xíng shì zhēng yì xiàng fǎ yuàn tí chū qǐng qiú yóu fǎ yuàn shén lǐ bìng zuò chū cái pàn de zhèng shì fǎ lǜ chéng xù huò yóu cǐ chǎn shēng de àn jiàn

Word origin

The characters 官 (guān, "official authority") and 司 (sī, "administer") point to a matter handled by public authorities, leading to the modern meaning of a lawsuit or court case.

Usage tips

  • The everyday expression for taking a dispute to court is more conversational than formal legal wording, so it often appears in ordinary talk about legal disputes.

Opposites

Related words

  • 官司费guān sī fèilegal feesnoun

Word lists with this word