Taxonomy of meanings for 誅:  

  • 誅 zhū (OC: to MC: ʈio) 陟輸切 平 廣韻:【責也釋名曰罪及餘曰誅如誅大樹枝葉盡落 】
    • ACCUSE
      • vtoNpassivebe accused, be inculpated; be incriminated
      • generalised>CRITICISE
        • legal>PUNISH
          • nabactpunishment; legal criminal proceedings
          • vt[oN]actmete out punishment
          • vt[oN]mete out severe punishments to people
          • vt+prep+Ngeneralapply punishments to
          • vtoNpunish officially (more or less severely); apply strictures to
          • vtoNobject=crimepunish
          • vtoNpassivebe punished
          • nabthe being punishedCH
          • DEMAND
            • vttoN1.+prep+N2demand (something N1) from (someone N2) 誅屨於徒人費
          • military>ATTACK
            • EXECUTE
              • nabactexecution (by someone 吏誅 "execution by an official")
              • vt(oN)execute (the contextually defined object)
              • vtoNcondemn to death; have executed
              • vtoNpassivebe to be executed, get punished; get executed
              • nabpassivethe suffering of execution as a punishmentCH
              • vt[oN]have people executedCH

        Additional information about 誅

        說文解字: 【誅】,討也。从言、朱聲。 【陟輸切】

          Criteria
        • REWARD

          1. The current general word for rewarding is shǎng 賞 (ant. fá 罰 "punish" and zhū 誅 "punish").

          2. Láo 勞 (ant. chéng 懲 "punish") focusses on the contribution by those who are being rewarded.

          3. Kào 犒 focusses on the festive character of the ceremony accompanying or constituting the reward.

          4. Bào 報 construes the reward as being an interaction between equals.

          5. Cí 賜 refers to a present to an inferior in recognition of the latter's worth. For most examples see GIVE.

          NB: The meaning of shǎng 賞 "give as a present" is post-Buddhist.

        • KILL

          1. The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.

          2. Some words specify the range of objects murdered: Thus shì 弒 refers to the killing of a reigning ruler, zhū 誅 and yí 夷 refer to the killing of a convicted criminal; zǎi 宰 and tú3 屠 refer primarily to the slaughtering of animals for the purpose of food production.

          3. Some words specify the number of objects killed: yí 夷, zú 族, jiān 殲 tú 屠 (when applied to humans) refer to the killing of groups of people. See PUNISHMENT. The other words refer normally to the killing of one person or a specified set of several persons.

          4. Some words specify modes of killing: cì 刺 is to murder by stabbing with a pointed object, typically a dagger; liè 裂 and jiě 解 refer to dismembering by a wide variety of methods; zhèn 鴆 refers to poisoning; jǐng 剄 refers to cutting the throat; xī 腊 refers to killing followed by making a person into minced meat; rèn 刃 is to kill with a sword; jiǎo 絞 and yì 縊 refer to strangulation, è4 mèi 扼昧 and refer to strangulation; è 餓 can refer to starving someone to death. For a more detailed account of the varieties of death penalties in ancient China see PUNISHMENT.

        • DEMAND

          1. The current word for putting forward justified legal demands on someone is zé 責, and the word refers to any demand for the fulfillment of a duty.

          2. Zhēng 徵 refers to a state insisting on its legal rights and thus making demands on the people.

          3. Zhū 誅 refers to a fierce legal demand for something that is construed as one's right.

          4. Qiú 求 is often used to refer not to seeking something, but insistently demanding it. See also SEEK.

        • EXECUTE

          1. The current general term for legal execution of a person condemned to death is zhū 誅.

          2. Lù 戮 refers to public and often even summary execution.

          3. Sì 肆 and xùn 徇 refer to public execution followed by exposure of the body to public view, with the focus on the latter.

          4. Zú 族 refers to legal execution of the whole clan of a culprit.

          5. Dà pì 大辟 is the bureaucratic legal term for capital punishment.

          6. Qì shì 棄市 refers to public execution in the market place.

          7. Jiǎo 絞 "strangulation"

          8. Pēng 烹 "boiling alive"

          9. Fēn chǐ 分胣 "cutting up and disembowelling"

          10. Kēng 坑 "burying alive"

          11. Chē liè 車列 "tearing apart between two vehicles"

          12. Zhī jiě 肢解 "dismembering"

          13. Fǔ 脯 "cutting into slices"

          14. Hǎi 醢 "cutting into small pieces"

          15. Zū 菹 "making into minced meat". See also BEHEAD.

          Word relations
        • Ant: (PUNISH)赦/PARDON Shè 赦 (ant. zuì 罪 "hold criminally responsible") refers specifically and technically to the legal act of pardoning a convicted culprit.
        • Ant: (PUNISH)賞/REWARD The current general word for rewarding is shǎng 賞 (ant. fá 罰 "punish" and zhū 誅 "punish").
        • Epithet: (PUNISH)嚴 / 嚴儼/SEVERE The current general commendatory term for severeness is yán 嚴 (ant. kuān 寬 "lax").
        • Contrast: (EXECUTE)伐/KILL
        • Contrast: (PUNISH)殺 / 煞/KILL The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.
        • Assoc: (PUNISH)罰/PUNISH Fá 罰 refers to non-physical forms of punishment including typically fines. See FINE