丧 (sāng) — to lose (a family member or close person) through death
Definition
Literary verb meaning 'to lose by death' — used for bereavement of close family, never for inanimate things. Sounds formal and heavy; in speech, 失去 or a verb like 去世 + 失 is more common.
verb
to lose (a family member or close person) through death
Examples
- 丧，。Wǒ xiǎo xué shí sāng fù, shì mǔ qīn yí gè rén bǎ wǒ dài dà de.I lost my father in elementary school; my mother raised me alone.
- 丧，。Tā zài yì chǎng shì gù zhōng sāng qī, yì zhí wú fǎ zǒu chū bēi shāng.He lost his wife in an accident and has never been able to move past his grief.
- 丧，。Zhè duì fū fù zhōng nián sāng zǐ, lìng rén shí fēn tóng qíng.This middle-aged couple lost their child, which is very pitiable.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 喪; 丧 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
㗊㗊㗊many mouths
The traditional form 喪 originally paired 桑 (mulberry tree) with 㗊 (many mouths). The simplified 丧 is the modern form, deriving from a form that used 哭 (cry) and 亡 (die).
Appears in
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