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安乐死 (ān lè sǐ) — euthanasia; painless death

Definition

Literally 'peaceful/安乐 + death/死': a medically assisted painless death for a terminally ill patient, usually contrasted with allowing the illness to run its course.

noun
euthanasiapainless death

Examples

  • 安乐死。
    Xǔ duō guó jiā yǐ jīng jiāng ān lè sǐ hé fǎ huà le.
    Many countries have legalized euthanasia.
  • ，安乐死。
    Tā yīn wèi bìng tòng nán rěn, xuǎn zé le ān lè sǐ.
    He chose euthanasia because the pain was unbearable.
  • 安乐死。
    Guān yú ān lè sǐ de lún lǐ tǎo lùn yì zhí hěn jī liè.
    The ethical debate about euthanasia has always been intense.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

安乐peaceful and happy
安ānpeaceful乐lèhappy
联合Coordinate
死sǐdeath

安乐 describes a calm, comfortable state, and 死 means death, together naming a painless death.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Open 乐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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