废除

• Pinyin: fèi chú
• Hanzi breakdown: 废 = 广 + 发 (abandoned structure — to abolish); 除 = 阝+ 余 (mound/steps + surplus — to remove, to get rid of)

Meaning

To abolish; to repeal; to annul. To formally and officially eliminate a law, system, institution, treaty, or practice.

A formal legal and political term for the complete elimination of something with official authority. Stronger and more final than 取消 (cancel) or 撤销 (revoke). Common objects: 法律 (law), 制度 (system), 条约 (treaty), 奴隶制 (slavery), 死刑 (capital punishment).

Examples

1. 国会经过历时三年的激烈辩论与多轮妥协，最终以微弱多数通过了废除死刑的立法动议，使该国成为本地区第七个废除极刑的国家。 After three years of fierce debate and multiple rounds of compromise, Congress narrowly passed a motion to abolish the death penalty, making the country the seventh in its region to abolish capital punishment.
2. 这项实施已逾百年的种族隔离法律最终在国际社会的持续施压和国内民权运动的强大推力下被彻底废除，成为该国现代史上的重大转折点。 This centuries-old apartheid law was ultimately fully repealed under sustained international pressure and the powerful push of the domestic civil rights movement, becoming a major turning point in the nation’s modern history.
3. 双方经谈判一致同意废除此前签订的不平等贸易协定，并将在平等互利的原则基础上启动新一轮自由贸易区协定的框架性磋商。 After negotiations, the two sides agreed to abolish the unequal trade agreement they had previously signed and will launch a new round of framework consultations for a free trade agreement based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit.

Usage Guide

Context: law, politics, history, international relations

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 国际人权组织持续向各国政府施压，要求其切实履行废除酷刑相关法律条文的国际公约义务，并建立独立有效的监督核查机制。(International human rights organisations continue to pressure governments to genuinely fulfil their international convention obligations to abolish legal provisions related to torture and to establish independent and effective monitoring and verification mechanisms.)
• 历史学界普遍认为，废除封建土地所有制是这场社会变革中最具实质性意义的制度转型，它从根本上重构了农村社会的权力结构与利益分配格局。(The historical community generally holds that the abolition of the feudal land ownership system was the most substantively significant institutional transformation in this social revolution, fundamentally reconstructing the power structure and benefit distribution pattern of rural society.)

Don't Say

• 废除 for everyday cancellations — do not say 废除明天的会议 (abolish tomorrow's meeting); use 取消 for cancelling appointments or plans; 废除 is reserved for the formal abolition of laws, systems, or institutional arrangements

Origin & History

废 (to abandon; to abolish) + 除 (to remove; to eliminate) — to remove and eliminate entirely — to abolish

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal