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禁固 (きんこ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

禁きん固こ

き

ん

こ

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

imprisonment without forced labour; incarceration; confinement

A legal term for imprisonment where the convict is not required to perform labour, unlike 懲役 (imprisonment with forced labour). Used in formal and news contexts.

See also: 懲役

被ひ告こくは禁きん固こ2年ねんの判はん決けつを受うけた。
The defendant received a sentence of two years' imprisonment without forced labour.

禁きん固こ刑けいと懲ちょう役えき刑けいの違ちがいを説せつ明めいしてください。

Please explain the difference between imprisonment without forced labour and imprisonment with forced labour.

Written forms

禁きん固こUsage30%
Commonly used variant, especially in news and general writing. 固 means 'hard' or 'firm', but here it is a simplified substitute for 錮.
禁きん錮こUsage70%
Standard legal spelling for imprisonment without forced labour. The character 錮 means 'to confine' or 'to imprison'.

Kanji

禁prohibition, ban, forbid
錮confinement, to tie
固harden, set, clot

Similar words

懲ちょう役えき
懲役 is imprisonment with forced labour, while 禁固 is imprisonment without forced labour. Both are criminal penalties, but 禁固 is generally considered less severe.

Etymology

From the characters 禁 (prohibition) and 錮 (confinement). The variant 禁固 uses 固 (hard, firm) as a simplified substitute. The term is a modern legal concept introduced in the Meiji era.