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消亡 (xiāo wáng) — to wither away; to die out (gradually cease to exist)

Definition

消亡 (xiāowáng) is a formal, written verb meaning to gradually cease to exist — used for species, languages, customs, or systems, not individual people. Stronger and more literary than 消失, which simply means 'to disappear.'

verb
to wither awayto die out (gradually cease to exist)

Examples

  • 消亡。
    Hěn duō gǔ lǎo de yǔ yán zhèng zài zhú jiàn xiāo wáng.
    Many ancient languages are gradually dying out.
  • 消亡。
    Zhè zhǒng dòng wù yóu yú qì hòu biàn huà ér xiāo wáng le.
    This species of animal has died out due to climate change.
  • 消亡。
    Nà ge chuán tǒng jié rì yǐ jīng xiāo wáng hěn jiǔ le.
    That traditional festival has been extinct for a long time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

消xiāovanish
亡wángperish

消亡 pairs 消 vanish and 亡 perish, meaning gradually cease to exist.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào消xiāo
Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

Open 消 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape originally marked a knife's cutting edge with a line.

Open 亡 →
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