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死命 (sǐ mìng) — doom, death (inescapable fate)

Definition

死命 (sǐ mìng) names an inescapable fate — literally 'death-fate'. In literary contexts it pairs with verbs like 难逃 ('hard to escape') to mean doom that cannot be avoided.

noun
doomdeath (inescapable fate)

Examples

  • 死命。
    Tā xiāng xìn měi gè rén dōu yǒu zì jǐ de sǐ mìng.
    He believes everyone has their own doom.
  • 死命，。
    Miàn duì sǐ mìng, tā xuǎn zé le tǎn rán jiē shòu.
    Facing death, he chose to accept it calmly.
  • “死命”。
    Gǔ dài xiǎo shuō zhōng cháng yǒu "sǐ mìng nán táo" de shuō fǎ.
    In ancient novels, the phrase 'doom is inescapable' often appears.

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.

死sǐdeath
命mìngfate

死 adds the sense of death and 命 means fate, giving a deadly or inescapable fate.

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
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 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
Appears in
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