death
/dɛθ/ noun, proper noun
Forms deaths deth deeeath
- noun 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, non-living state. “My grandfather died/met a violent death, which saddened the whole family.”
- noun Execution (in the judicial sense). “The serial killer was sentenced to death.”
- noun (often capitalized) The personification of death as a (usually male) hooded figure with a scythe; the Grim Reaper. “When death walked in, a chill spread through the room.”
- noun (preceded by the) The collapse or end of something. “England scored a goal at the death to even the score at one all.”
- noun (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!”
- noun (figurative) Spiritual lifelessness.
- proper noun The personification of death, often a skeleton with a scythe, and one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. “Death can be seen on a tarot card.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
end tomb celestial transfer decease decomposition defunction dematerialization demise dirt nap doom exit expiration fatality liquidation mortality passing quietus repose sleep of the just sunset expiry dying last destruction
Antonyms
(antonym(s) of“beginning of life”): birth (antonym(s) of“maintenance of existence”): life advent beginning birth genesis rise start
Etymology
From Middle English deth, deeth, from Old English dēaþ, from Proto-West Germanic *dauþu, from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰówtus. More at die.
Cognate with Scots daeth, daith, death, deeth, deith (“death”), North Frisian Duar, duas, düüs (“death”), Saterland Frisian Dood (“death”), West Frisian dea (“death”), Dutch dood (“death”), German Tod, Todt (“death”), Limburgish doead (“death”), Luxembourgish Doud (“death”), Yiddish טויט (toyt, “death”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål død (“death”), Faroese deyði (“death”), Icelandic dauði (“death”), Norwegian Nynorsk daude, død (“death”), Swedish död (“death”), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐌸𐌿𐍃 (dauþus, “death”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The cessation of all vital phenomena without capability of resuscitation, either in animals or plants.
- noun Total privation or loss; extinction; cessation; as, the death of memory.
Etymology [OE. deth, dea, AS. deá; akin to OS. d, D. dood, G. tod, Icel. dau, Sw. & Dan. död, Goth. daupus; from a verb meaning to die. See Die, v. i., and cf. Dead.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “death”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details