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假死 (jiǎ sǐ) — (medicine) suspended animation; death feigning; the act of playing dead

Definition

Literally 'false death,' covering two distinct ideas: a medical state of suspended animation with no detectable vital signs, and an animal's deliberate act of playing dead to survive danger.

noun
(medicine) suspended animationdeath feigningthe act of playing dead

Examples

  • 假死。
    Yī shēng shuō tā jìn rù le yì zhǒng jiǎ sǐ zhuàng tài.
    The doctor said he entered a state of suspended animation.
  • 。
    Yǒu xiē dòng wù zài yù dào wēi xiǎn shí huì zhuāng jiǎ sǐ.
    Some animals play dead when they encounter danger.
  • ，假死。
    Nà shì yì zhǒng shēng cún cè lüè, jiào zuò jiǎ sǐ.
    That is a survival strategy called death feigning.

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.

假jiǎfake/not real
死sǐdeath

假 means not real and 死 means death, together describing a state that looks like death but is not.

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →

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 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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