death

English

/dɛθ/, /diːθ/

noun
Definitions
  • 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.
  • (often) The personification of death as a hooded figure with a scythe; the Grim Reaper. The pronoun he is not the only option, but probably the most traditional one, as it matches with the male grammatical gender of Old English dēaþ, also with cognate German der Tod. The fourth apocalyptic rider (Bible, revelations 6:8) is male θᾰ́νᾰτος (thanatos) in Greek. It has the female name Mors in Latin, but is referred to with male forms qui and eum. The following quotes show this rider on a pale horse is his in the English Bible and she in Peter Gabriel's lyrics.
  • (the death) The collapse or end of something.
  • (figurative) Spiritual lifelessness.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English deeth inherited from Old English dēaþ (death) inherited from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz (death) inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰówtus suffix from English die root from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (die, run, smoke, whirl, waft, steam, flow, haze, stink, shake, vapour, dark, dwindle).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*dʰew-

Gloss

die, run, smoke, whirl, waft, steam, flow, haze, stink, shake, vapour, dark, dwindle

Concept
Semantic Field

Time

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

暗, 闇, 冥

Emoji
🎲

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms