death

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death^¹

/dɛθ/
[dɛθ]
/diːθ/ Northumbria, West Country
/dɛːθ/ Early Modern
/dɛθ/ Early Modern

Sounds like debt (th-stopping), deaf (th-fronting) · Rhymes with -ɛθ

Where it comes from

From Middle English deth, deeth, from Old English dēaþ, from Proto-West Germanic *dauþu, from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰówtus. More at die.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots daeth, daith, death, deeth, deith (“death”), North Frisian Duar, duas, düüs (“death”), Saterland Frisian Dood (“death”), West Frisian dea (“death”), Dutch dood (“death”), German Tod, Todt (“death”), Limburgish doead (“death”), Luxembourgish Doud (“death”), Yiddish טויט (toyt, “death”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål død (“death”), Faroese deyði (“death”), Icelandic dauði (“death”), Norwegian Nynorsk daude, død (“death”), Swedish död (“death”), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐌸𐌿𐍃 (dauþus, “death”).

noun deaths · deth · deeeath

countable, uncountable The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an inert, non-living state. My grandfather died/met a violent death, which saddened the whole family.
countable, uncountable Execution (in the judicial sense). The serial killer was sentenced to death.
capitalized, countable, often, uncountable The personification of death as a (usually male) hooded figure with a scythe; the Grim Reaper. When death walked in, a chill spread through the room.
countable, uncountable The collapse or end of something. England scored a goal at the death to even the score at one all.
countable, especially, figuratively, uncountable, followed by of phrase A cause of great stress, exhaustion, embarrassment, or another negative condition (for someone). This bake sale is going to be the death of me!
countable, figuratively, uncountable Spiritual lifelessness.

Death^²

proper noun

The personification of death, often a skeleton with a scythe, and one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Death can be seen on a tarot card.
Similar: the angel of death, Azrael, the Grim Reaper, the reaper, the pale rider, the rider, psychopomp, Santa Muerte, the Shinigami
A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: decease, dying, destruction, end, last, demise, extinction, annihilation, goner, die, extermination, mortal, mortality, deceased, mort, deadly

noun

Translations

Every language

noun cessation of life

Español	muerte, éxitus
한국어	죽음 jugeum, 사망 samang
日本語	死 shi, 死亡 shibō
中文	死亡 sǐwáng
हिन्दी	मृत्यु mŕtyu, मरण maraṇ, मौत maut, मर्ग marg, मरना marnā, विनाश vināś
Kiswahili	kifo, mauti
Português	morte, falecimento, óbito
Français	mort, décès
Deutsch	Tod, Exitus
Italiano	morte, dipartita, decesso, morire
Ελληνικά	θάνατος thánatos
Română	moarte
Русский	смерть smertʹ, ги́бель gíbelʹ, поги́бель pogíbelʹ, кончи́на končína
Tiếng Việt	(cái, sự) chết, tử vong
العربية	مَوْت mawt, وَفَاة wafāh, هَلَاك halāk, مَنِيَّة maniyya, حِمَام ḥimām
עברית	מוות \ מָוֶת mavet, מִיתָה mitá

noun Tarot

Español	la muerte, el arcano de la muerte
한국어	죽음 jugeum, 사신 sasin
日本語	死神 shinigami
Português	Morte, arcano sem nome
Français	la mort, l'arcane sans nom
Deutsch	der Tod
Italiano	la morte, l'arcano senza nome
Ελληνικά	Θάνατος Thánatos
Русский	смерть smertʹ

noun collapse or end

한국어	멸망 myeolmang
日本語	消滅 shōmetsu, 滅亡 metsubō
हिन्दी	निधन nidhan
Deutsch	Tod, Untergang

noun personification of death

Español	Muerte
한국어	사신 sasin, 저승사자 jeoseungsaja
日本語	死神 shinigami
中文	死神 sǐshén
हिन्दी	मृत्यु mŕtyu, यम yam, काल kāl
Kiswahili	kifo
Português	morte
Français	camarde
Deutsch	Tod
Italiano	morte
Ελληνικά	Χάρος Cháros
Română	moartea
Русский	смерть smertʹ, а́нгел сме́рти ángel smérti
Tiếng Việt	tử thần, thần chết, cái chết

name the personification of death

Español	muerte, Muerte
한국어	사신 sasin, 저승사자 jeoseungsaja
日本語	死神 shinigami
中文	死神 sǐshén
Português	Morte
Français	Mort, Camarde
Deutsch	Tod, Sensenmann, Gevatter Tod, Schlafes Bruder, Schnitter, Schnitter Tod
Italiano	Morte
Русский	смерть smertʹ, костля́вая kostljávaja, а́нгел сме́рти ángel smérti
Tiếng Việt	tử thần, thần chết
עברית	מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת mal'ách hamávet, הַמָּוֶת hamávet

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MLA

"death." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/death. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

death. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/death

Chicago

"death." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/death.

BibTeX

@misc{death_2026,
  title = {death},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/death},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}