Japanese edit

Kanji in this term

Grade: 3
かみ > がみ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
死に神 (kyūjitai)
死神
 
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Etymology edit

First attested in the mid-Edo period, cited to a text in 1709.[1]

Compound of 死に (shini, dying, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative or stem form) of verb 死ぬ (shinu), “to die) +‎ (kami, god, spirit).[1][2] The kami changes to gami as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

()(がみ) (shinigami

  1. a god or spirit who leads humans toward their death
  2. (tarot) Death

Descendants edit

  • English: shinigami

See also edit

Proper noun edit

()(がみ) (Shinigami

  1. the Grim Reaper (personification of death)
  2. a rakugo loosely based on the opera Crispino e la comare and revolves around an impoverished man meeting a shinigami

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN