诉讼

• Pinyin: sù sòng
• Hanzi breakdown: 诉 = 讠(speech radical) + 斥 (to accuse, express forcefully) — to accuse, to appeal; 讼 = 讠+ 公 (public dispute, to litigate)

Meaning

A lawsuit or legal action; litigation. Refers to the formal legal process of bringing a civil, criminal, or administrative case before a court for adjudication.

A formal legal term used in judicial, business, and journalistic contexts. Commonly collocates with 提起、民事、刑事、行政、集体. Refers to the entire litigation process rather than just the act of initiating a suit (起诉). Essential vocabulary for legal professionals, business people, and anyone engaging with news coverage of judicial matters.

Examples

1. 双方协商未果后，原告决定提起诉讼，将这场历时两年的商标权争议正式交由法院予以裁决。 After negotiations failed, the plaintiff decided to file a lawsuit, formally submitting this two-year trademark dispute to the court for a ruling.
2. 该跨国公司因数据大规模泄露问题在多个国家同时面临集体诉讼，潜在赔偿金额高达数十亿美元。 Because of a massive data breach, the multinational company is facing class-action lawsuits in multiple countries at the same time, with potential damages as high as tens of billions of dollars.
3. 诉讼程序繁琐且旷日持久，许多当事人在选择走法律途径之前都会认真权衡其时间成本与经济代价。 Litigation is complicated and can drag on for a long time, so many parties carefully weigh the time and financial costs before choosing the legal route.

Usage Guide

Context: legal, business, journalism

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 在合同纠纷中，当事方通常会先尝试调解，调解失败后才会正式提起诉讼，以避免漫长诉讼程序带来的高昂时间与经济成本。(In contractual disputes, parties typically attempt mediation first, only formally initiating litigation after mediation fails, to avoid the substantial time and financial costs of protracted legal proceedings.)
• 这起诉讼历经三年审理，最终二审法院维持了一审判决，被告被裁定赔偿原告相应的经济损失及全部诉讼费用。(This lawsuit took three years to resolve; the second-instance court ultimately upheld the first-instance ruling, ordering the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and all litigation costs.)

Don't Say

• 不要将 诉讼 用于非正式纠纷或日常争议 — 不说'我们之间的误会可以通过诉讼解决'；日常争议用 协商 或 调解

Origin & History

诉 (to accuse, to appeal, to bring a claim) + 讼 (to dispute, to litigate publicly) — formal legal dispute brought before a court

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal