しかばね

Japanese

Etymology

Compound of 死 (shi, “death, dead”) +‎ 尸, 屍 (kabane, “corpse, dead body”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しかばね [shìkábáné] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɕika̠ba̠ne̞]

Noun

しかばね • (shikabane) 

1. 尸, 屍: corpse
2. 尸: short for 尸冠 (shikabane kanmuri), the 尸 radical

Derived terms

• 尸(しかばね)冠(かんむり) (shikabane kanmuri): the 尸 radical

Idioms

• 屍(しかばね)に鞭(むち)を打(う)つ (shikabane ni muchi o utsu): “to beat a whip against a corpse” → to speak ill of the dead; also, general metaphor for something excessively cruel