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毙命 (bì mìng) — to meet a violent death, to be killed (formal/literary)

Definition

A formal/written verb meaning 'to die a violent death, to be killed' — used in news reports and formal accounts, not in everyday speech.

verb
to meet a violent deathto be killed (formal/literary)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā zài zhè chǎng zhàn dòu zhōng bì le mìng.
    He was killed in this battle.
  • 毙命。
    Duō míng zuì fàn dāng chǎng bì mìng.
    Multiple criminals died on the spot.
  • 毙命。
    Tā zài yí cì chē huò zhōng bì mìng.
    He died in a car accident.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

毙bìdie/lose
命mìnglife

毙 contributes the sense of dying or losing life, and 命 contributes life, so 毙命 means to meet a violent 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 斃; 毙 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
死死sǐdeath
Sound part声符shēngfú
敝
敝bì斃bì
Same sound today

The traditional form 斃 combines 死, meaning death, with 敝, which gives the sound. The simplified 毙 is a later shorthand.

Open 毙 →

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
Crime & Police

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