Definition
黑手党 refers specifically to the Mafia (originally the Sicilian Cosa Nostra) and is used in Chinese similarly to English — it can denote the historical organization or generically refer to any organized crime syndicate with a structured hierarchy. It is a loanword (黑 'black' + 手 'hand' + 党 'party/group') that entered Chinese via Japanese translations of Italian criminal organizations.
n.
Mafia (the criminal organization of Italian origin)(by extension) organized crime syndicategang
Examples
- 黑手党。Yìdàlì hēi shǒu dǎng yǐ yánmì de zǔzhī jiégòu hé jiāzú shì guǎnlǐ wénmíng.The Italian Mafia is known for its tight organizational structure and family-style management.
- 黑手党。Hěn duō Hǎoláiwù diànyǐng dōu yǐ hēi shǒu dǎng wéi tícái.Many Hollywood movies take the Mafia as their subject matter.
- 黑手党。Jǐngfāng duōnián lái yìzhí zài dǎjí dāngdì hēi shǒu dǎng shìlì.The police have been cracking down on local Mafia forces for years.
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