death English · revision 2315

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (Old English dēaþ)|origins=gem-pro *dauþuz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /deθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|deeth]], [[inh|ang|dēaþ]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*dauþuz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) formed from the verbal stem [[m|gem-pro|*dau-|t=to die]] with a suffix of action or condition, the ancestor of [[-th]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline suggests the stem may come from [[ine-pro|*dheu-|t=to die]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[die]] and [[dead]],^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004)^(Klein 1966) and its relatives include [[nl|dood]], [[de|Tod]] and [[non|dauði]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The end of life, the act of dying, the state of being dead, and the cause of death; in the plural, ghosts: Old English ''dēaþ'', about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Death as a personified agent is recorded from 971 by the OED,^(OED 1989) and Etymonline dates the figure of a skeleton as an image of mortality to the late 12th century.^(Etymonline) In the late 14th century the word was applied to the end of inanimate things, and to a plague, of the first outbreak of bubonic plague.^(Etymonline) The death of a part or tissue of the body is from 1800.^(OED 1989) ''Deathbed'' meant “the grave” in ''Beowulf'' and “the bed one dies in” from about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Death's door'' is from the 1540s and ''death's-head'' from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Shakespeare used ''be the death of'' (1596),^(Etymonline) and ''to death'' as an intensifier, as in ''bored to death'', dates from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) ''Deathless'' is from 1598^(Barnhart 1988) and ''deathblow'' from 1795, replacing Middle English ''dethes dint''.^(Barnhart 1988) The slang ''be death on'', “be very good at”, is from 1839.^(Etymonline) In Scots the word also had the form ''deid''.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''dēaþ'', and ''deathbed'', the grave (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 971 – personified Death.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – ''deathbed'', the bed one dies in.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a plague.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – ''death's door''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1596 – ''be the death of'' (Shakespeare).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1598 – ''deathless''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610s – ''to death'' as an intensifier.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1795 – ''deathblow''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of dying; the end of life.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The state of being dead.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The cause or manner of dying.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' The destroyer of life personified, usually shown as a [[skeleton]] holding a [[scythe]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Killing; [[bloodshed]] or [[execution]].^(AHD)

+ # The end or extinction of something.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(law)'' [[civil death|alt=Civil death]], the loss of civil rights.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[die]]

+ * [[dead]]

+ * [[deadly]]

+ * [[deathly]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ RHWU lists ''decease'', ''demise'', ''passing'' and ''departure'' as synonyms, and ''birth'' and ''life'' as opposites.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}