TongTong
Sign in

逝去 (shì qù) — to pass away, to elapse (of time); to be gone (euphemism for death)

Definition

Literate 'to pass away / elapse' — a written, euphemistic verb for time slipping by or someone dying, used in formal prose and obituaries rather than daily speech.

verb
to pass awayto elapse (of time)to be gone (euphemism for death)

Examples

  • 逝去，。
    Shí guāng shì qù, zhuǎn yǎn jiān wǒ men yǐ jīng lǎo le.
    Time passes, and in the blink of an eye we are already old.
  • 逝去，。
    Tā shì qù de shí hou, jiā rén dōu péi zài shēn biān.
    When he passed away, his family was by his side.
  • 逝去。
    Nà xiē měi hǎo de huí yì yǒng yuǎn bú huì shì qù.
    Those beautiful memories will never fade away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

逝shìpass away
去qùaway

“逝去” combines “逝” (pass away) with “去” (away), giving the sense of time or life moving away.

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
辵辵chuòwalking
Sound part声符shēngfú
折
折zhé逝shì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

逝 combines 辵, a walking part, with 折, which gives the sound.

Open 逝 →

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

去 pairs 大, a man, with 口, a mouth or object. The evidence reads this as a man leaving a place, a man opening his mouth, or a cover over an object.

Open 去 →
Appears in
Time (Abstract)

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.