death
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- deth (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
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.
PronunciationEdit
- enPR: dĕth, IPA(key): /dɛθ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) Audio (AUS) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛθ
- (West Country) IPA(key): /diːθ/
- Homophones: debt (with th-stopping), deaf (with th-fronting)
NounEdit
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 grandmother saddened the whole family.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175:
- They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too. […].
- 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, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.
- Execution (in the judicial sense).
- The serial killer was sentenced to death.
- (often capitalized) 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.
- When death walked in, a chill spread through the room.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 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 959921544, page 51:
- but thoſe, Jonathan, who know what death is, and what havock and deſtruction he can make ,
- 1974, Peter Gabriel, (Genesis), “Anyway”, in The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway:
- 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.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:death
Derived termsEdit
- 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
- dead
- deadly
- deadly diamond of death
- death acids
- death adder
- death against
- death angel
- death barrier
- death bed
- death bed conversion
- death bell
- death benefit
- death book
- death by a thousand cuts
- death by chocolate
- death by cop
- death by PowerPoint
- death camas
- death camp
- death cap
- death card
- death certificate
- death chair
- death chamber
- death clock
- death cross
- death cult
- death cultist
- death cup
- death door
- death drive
- death duty
- death erection
- death factor
- death flight
- death futures
- death glare
- death grip
- death growl
- death grunt
- death house
- death instinct
- death is the great leveller
- death knell
- death loop
- death march
- death mask
- death metal
- death metaller
- death 'n' roll
- death note
- death of despair
- death of the author
- death on
- death panel
- death penalty
- death phase
- death play
- death pool
- death put
- death rate
- death rattle
- death ray
- death ride
- death roll
- death row
- death seat
- death sentence
- death slide
- death slot
- death spiral
- death squad
- death star
- death stare
- death stick
- death tax
- death threat
- death throe
- death to
- death toll
- Death Valley
- death warmed over
- death warmed up
- death warrant
- death whistle
- death wish
- death zone
- death-bearing
- death-bed
- death-bed conversion
- death-damp
- death-dealing
- death-defying
- death-fire
- death-knell
- death-name
- death-rattle
- death-ray
- death-sough
- death-stare
- death-stiffness
- death-struggle
- death-watch beetle
- deathbird
- deathblow, death blow
- deathful
- deathless
- deathlike
- deathlore
- deathly
- deathmaking
- deathmatch
- death's-head
- deathsman
- deathtrap, death trap
- deathward
- deathwatch
- deathy
- dice with death
- die a death
- die a thousand deaths
- direct maternal death
- do to death
- dowry 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
- in at the death
- in the article of death
- indirect maternal death
- information-theoretic death
- instadeath
- 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
- 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
- Mongolian death worm
- near-death
- near-death experience
- pool of death
- pro-death
- programmed cell death
- psychic death
- purple death
- put to death
- red ring of death
- scare someone to death
- scared to death
- screen death
- screen of death
- second 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 sniffing death syndrome
- sudden unexpected death syndrome
- sudden unexplained death syndrome
- sure as death
- table of death
- till death do us part
- till death us do part
- to death
- to the death
- unlawful death
- valley of death
- valley of the shadow of death
- voodoo death
- wall of death
- wheel of death
- wrongful death
- wrongful death statute
- yes to death
- zip of death
TranslationsEdit
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.
See alsoEdit
Further readingEdit
- The Definition of Death - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
AnagramsEdit
JapaneseEdit
EtymologyEdit
Appropriation of English death for a homophone.