临死 (lín sǐ) — to be on one's deathbed / to be dying

Definition

verb

to be on one's deathbed / to be dying

临死。
Tā lín sǐ qián liú xià le yí jù yí yán.
He left a final word before dying.
临死。
Lǎo rén lín sǐ shí jǐn jǐn wò zhe hái zi de shǒu.
The old man held the child's hand tightly on his deathbed.
临死。
Xiǎo shuō nán zhǔ jué zài lín sǐ zhī jì shuō chū le zhēn xiàng.
The male protagonist of the novel revealed the truth on the verge of death.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

临línapproach

临 (approach) and 死 (death) combine to mean nearing death.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臨; 临 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 臨, 人 is a person, 臣 is an eye, and 品 is objects, showing a person looking down at objects.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尸

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.

Appears in