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Kanji Detail for 死 - "death, to die, desperate"

  • Meaning

    死 means "death, to die, desperate."

    1. Death - The end of life.

    2. Die - To cease living.

    3. Desperate - Risking one's life.

  • Words using

    • 死者 ししゃ Listen dead person; (the) deceased; (the) dead
    • 脳死 のうし Listen brain death
    • 二死 にし Listen two out; two down (and one to go)
    • 死亡 しぼう Listen death; dying; mortality
    • 必死 ひっし Listen frantic; frenetic; desperate
    • 死刑 しけい Listen death penalty; capital punishment
    • 死去 しきょ Listen death; decease; passing away
    • 死後 しご Listen after death
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 起死回生 きしかいせい Listen revival from the brink of death; recovering from a hopeless situation; resuscitation
    • 一死報国 いっしほうこく Listen dying for one's country
    • 万死一生 ばんしいっしょう Listen advancing in the face of death; having a narrow escape from the jaw of death
    • 不老不死 ふろうふし Listen perpetual youth and longevity; immortality
    • 九死一生 きゅうしいっしょう Listen narrow escape from the jaw of death
    • 十死一生 じっしいっしょう Listen narrow escape from the jaws of death; cheating death; there being barely a chance of escaping death
  • Origin of

    歹, bare bones, beside 匕, a person kneeling: someone bowing before remains. Death was written not as dying but as mourning — the living bent at the boneside.

    How to remember it: Bones 歹 and a mourner 匕 kneeling beside them — death, seen from the survivor's side.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: death, to die, desperate
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Traditionally considered inauspicious in names — Japanese readers may find it an unlucky choice. Check the meanings above carefully before using it on skin.

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    death; die

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    die; dead; death

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    dead; death; impassable, inflexible

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    The loss of life for any person or creature. | Colloquially, anything not moving is also called 死 (dead). | Extinguished. As in "dead ashes rekindling" (死灰復燃). Colloquially, hopeless situations are also called 死心塌地 (completely resigned).
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • We regret his death.

  • My mother is dead too.

  • Before he died , he was almost blind.

  • She had her only son die.

  • His death was broadcast all over the world.

  • I ran for my life.

  • None can get away from death.

  • I may die tomorrow.

  • Ten years have passed since he died.

  • No one can avert death.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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