death
English
Alternative forms
- deth (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English deeth, from Old English dēaþ, from Proto-West Germanic *dauþu, from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz (compare West Frisian dead, Dutch dood, German Tod, Swedish död, Norwegian død), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰówtus. More at die.
Pronunciation
- enPR: dĕth, IPA(key): /dɛθ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛθ
- (West Country) IPA(key): /diːθ/
- Homophones: debt (with th-stopping), deaf (with th-fronting)
Noun
death (countable and uncountable, plural deaths)
- The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an inert, nonliving state.
- The death of my grandfather saddened the whole family.
- 1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. […] , To cure the faintneſs of the Heart, page 71:
- But foraſmuch as this [the faintneſs of the Heart] is a very bad and heavy diſtemper, and a fore-runner of death, therefore 'tis called a timely death.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:
- "‘Death,’" quoted Warwick, with whose mood the undertaker's remarks were in tune, "‘is the penalty that all must pay for the crime of living.’"
- 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
- Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, […]
- Execution (in the judicial sense).
- The serial killer was sentenced to death.
- 2018 March 30, Chris Buckley, “‘Vicious’ Killer of 11 Women Gets Death Penalty in China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 March 2018, Asia Pacific:
- Thirty years after Gao Chengyong embarked on a succession of 11 rape-murders of women in northwest China, a court sentenced him to death on Friday, following an investigation that involved sifting through 230,000 fingerprints.
- (often capitalized) The personification of death as a (usually male) hooded figure with a scythe; the Grim Reaper.
- When death walked in, a chill spread through the room.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 6:8:
- And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, & his name that sat on him was Death"
- 1762, [Laurence Sterne], chapter IX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume V, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […], →OCLC, page 51:
- [T]o thoſe, Jonathan, who know what death is, and what havock and deſtruction he can make, before a man can well wheel about—'tis like a whole age.
- 1974, Anthony Banks, Michael Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett (lyrics and music), “Anyway”, in The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, performed by Genesis:
- O boy! running man is out of death ... Anyway, they say she comes on a pale horse
- (preceded by the) The collapse or end of something.
- England scored a goal at the death to even the score at one all.
- 1983, Robert R. Faulkner, Music on Demand, page 90:
- He may even find himself being blamed if the project dies a quick and horrible death at the box office or is unceremoniously axed by the network.
- (figuratively, especially followed by of-phrase) A cause of great stress, exhaustion, embarrassment, or another negative condition (for someone).
- This bake sale is going to be the death of me!
- (figurative) Spiritual lifelessness.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:death
Derived terms
- accidental death
- anally inflicted death sentence
- angel of death
- article of death
- at death's door
- Black Death
- blue screen of death
- brain death
- catch one's death
- cause of death
- cell death
- cheat death
- civil death
- click of death
- clinical death
- cold as death
- common death adder
- corporate death penalty
- cot death
- crib death
- crude death rate
- culture of death
- dance of death
- date of death
- dead
- deadly
- deadly diamond of death
- death acids
- death adder
- death against
- death angel
- death barrier
- death-bearing
- death-bed
- death bed
- death-bed conversion
- death bed conversion
- death bell
- death benefit
- deathbird
- deathblow, death blow
- death book
- death by a thousand cuts
- death by a thousand paper cuts
- death by chocolate
- death by cop
- death by misadventure
- death by PowerPoint
- death camas
- death camp
- death cap
- death card
- death certificate
- death chair
- death chamber
- death clerk
- death clock
- death-come-quickly
- death cross
- death cult
- death cultist
- death cup
- death-damp
- death date
- death-dealing
- death-defying
- death disc
- death-doom
- death door
- death drive
- death drop
- death duty
- death erection
- death factor
- death-fire
- death flag
- death flight
- deathful
- death futures
- death game
- death glare
- death grip
- death growl
- death grunt
- death house
- death instinct
- death is the great leveller
- death kit
- death-knell
- death knell
- death knock
- deathless
- deathlike
- deathlike
- death loop
- deathlore
- deathly
- deathmaking
- death march
- death mask
- deathmatch
- death-messenger
- death messenger
- death metal
- death metaller
- death-name
- death note
- death notification
- death 'n' roll
- death of despair
- death-of-man
- death of the author
- death on
- death panel
- death penalty
- death phase
- death play
- death pool
- death put
- death rate
- death rattle
- death-rattle
- death-ray
- death ray
- death ride
- death roll
- death row
- death save
- death seat
- death sentence
- death's-head
- death slide
- death slot
- deathsman
- death-sough
- death spiral
- death squad
- death star
- death stare
- death-stare
- death stick
- death-stiffness
- death-struggle
- death tax
- death threat
- death throe
- death to
- death toll
- deathtrap, death trap
- Death Valley
- deathward
- death warmed over
- death warmed up
- death warrant
- deathwatch
- death-watch beetle
- death whistle
- death wish
- death wobble
- deathy
- death zone
- dice with death
- die a death
- die a thousand deaths
- direct maternal death
- do to death
- dowry death
- draw death
- drink oneself to death
- ego death
- Euro death-knot
- fan death
- feel like death
- fight to the death
- first death
- gay death
- group of death
- heat death
- heat death of the universe
- hug of death
- in at the death
- indirect maternal death
- information-theoretic death
- instadeath
- in the article of death
- jaws of death
- kill-death ratio
- kill-to-death ratio
- Kimberley death adder
- kiss of death
- language death
- laughing death
- lesbian bed death
- life after death
- life-and-death
- life-or-death
- Life without Death
- like death warmed over
- like death warmed up
- like grim death
- living death
- manner of death
- maternal death
- matter of life and death
- matter of life or death
- mechanism of death
- megadeath
- melodic death metal
- merchant of death
- Mongolian death worm
- near-death
- near-death experience
- pale as death
- pool of death
- pro-death
- programmed cell death
- psychic death
- purple death
- put to death
- red ring of death
- scared to death
- scare someone to death
- screen death
- screen of death
- second death
- self-death
- sickness unto death
- sign one's death warrant
- sign one's own death warrant
- simultaneous death
- smiling death
- social death
- sudden arrhythmic death syndrome
- sudden death
- sudden infant death syndrome
- sudden oak death
- sudden sniffing death syndrome
- sudden unexpected death syndrome
- sudden unexplained death syndrome
- sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome
- sure as death
- sure as death and taxes
- sweet-after-death
- table of death
- till death do us part
- till death us do part
- time of death
- to death
- to the death
- twink death
- unlawful death
- valley of death
- valley of the shadow of death
- voodoo death
- wall of death
- wheel of death
- white screen of death
- wrongful death
- wrongful death statute
- yellow light of death
- yes to death
- zip of death
Translations
cessation of life
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personification of death
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Tarot
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collapse or end
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
Further reading
- The Definition of Death - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Japanese
Verb
death • (desu)
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