die

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See also diē, dié, diè, and Dì-É

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English dien, deien, from Old Norse deyja (“to die, pass away”), from Proto-Germanic *dawjanan, *diwanan (“to die”) (compare Danish dø, Low German döen, Middle Dutch doyen, douwen, Old High German touwen), from Proto-Indo-European *dheu-, *dhwey- (“to die”) (compare Old Norse dá 'catalepsy', Old Irish díth 'end, death', Old Church Slavonic daviti 'to strangle', Armenian di 'corpse', Avestan dvaidī 'we press').[1][2]

[edit] Verb

die (third-person singular simple present dies, present participle dying, simple past and past participle died) (intransitive)

  1. To stop living; to become dead; to undergo death.
    1. Followed by of. General use.
      • 1839, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Penguin 1985, p. 87:
        "What did she die of, Work'us?" said Noah. "Of a broken heart, some of our old nurses told me," replied Oliver.
      • 2000, Stephen King, On Writing, Pocket Books 2002, p. 85:
        In 1971 or 72, Mom's sister Carolyn Weimer died of breast cancer.
    2. Followed by from. General use, though somewhat more common in the context of medicine or the sciences.
      • 1865, British Medical Journal, 4 Mar 1865, p. 213:
        She lived several weeks; but afterwards she died from epilepsy, to which malady she had been previously subject.
      • 2007, Frank Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, Sandworms of Dune, Tor 2007, p. 191:
        "Or all of them will die from the plague. Even if most of the candidates succumb. . ."
    3. Followed by for. Often expressing wider contextual motivations, though sometimes indicating direct causes.
      • 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22, Simon & Schuster 1999, p. 232:
        Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war.
      • 2003, Tara Herivel & Paul Wright (Eds.), Prison Nation, Routledge 2003, p. 187:
        Less than three days later, Johnson lapsed into a coma in his jail cell and died for lack of insulin.
    4. (now rare) Followed by with. Now rare as indicating direct cause.
      • 1600, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act III, Scene I:
        Therefore let Benedicke like covered fire, / Consume away in sighes, waste inwardly: / It were a better death, to die with mockes, / Which is as bad as die with tickling.
      • 1830, Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, Richards 1854, p. 337:
        And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year was very frequent in the land.
  2. (figuratively) To yearn intensely.
    • 1598, Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act III, Scene II:
      Yes, and his ill conditions; and in despite of all, dies for him.
    • 2004 Paul Joseph Draus, Consumed in the city: observing tuberculosis at century's end - Page 168
      I could see that he was dying, dying for a cigarette, dying for a fix maybe, dying for a little bit of freedom, but trapped in a hospital bed and a sick body.
  3. (video games) To cause the death of a player character while controlling it.
    I can't go to level four because I always die against the boss of level three.
  4. To be cut off by family or friends utterly, as if dead.
    The day our sister eloped, she died to our mother.
  5. (figuratively) To become spiritually dead; to lose hope.
    He died a little inside each time she refused to speak to him.
  6. (colloquial) To be mortified or shocked by a situation.
    If anyone sees me wearing this ridiculous outfit, I'll die.
  7. (of a machine) to stop working, to break down.
    My car died in the middle of the freeway this morning.
  8. (of a computer program) To abort, to terminate (as an error condition).
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from die
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
to stop living
to be cut off from family or friends
to become spiritually dead
to be mortified or shocked
to stop working

[edit] References

  1. ^ J.P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "death" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 150.
  2. ^ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003).

[edit] Etymology 2

A pair of common dice with six sides each.
Various dice with different numbers of sides and distributions of values.

From Middle English dee, from Old French de (Modern French dé), from Latin datum, from datus (“given”), the past participle of dare (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *do- (“to lay out, to spread out”).

[edit] Noun

die (plural dies or dice)

  1. (plural: dice) A polyhedron, usually a cube, with numbers or symbols on each side and used in games of chance.
    • 1748. David Hume. Enquiry concerning the human understanding. In: Wikisource. Wikimedia: 2007. § 46.
      If a die were marked with one figure or number of spots on four sides, and with another figure or number of spots on the two remaining sides, it would be more probable, that the former would turn up than the latter ;
  2. (plural: dies) The cubical part of a pedestal, a plinth.
  3. (plural: dies) A device for cutting into a specified shape.
  4. (plural: dies) A mold for forming metal or plastic objects.
  5. (plural: dies) An embossed device used in stamping coins and medals.
  6. (plural: dice or dies) A fragment of a completed integrated circuit wafer, among those produced by fracturing the wafer as specified in its design, that includes a portion that (unless defective) can provide the electronic function for which it was designed, but whose further mechanical subdivision would irreversibly impair that function.
[edit] Usage notes

The game of dice is singular. Thus in "Dice is a game played with dice," the first occurrence is singular, the second occurrence is plural. Otherwise, using the plural dice as a singular instead of die is considered incorrect by most authorities, but has come into widespread use.

[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
polyhedron used in games of chance
cubical part of a pedestral
device for cutting into a specified shape
embossed device used in stamping
fragment of a completed integrated circuit wafer

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Afrikaans

[edit] Article

die

  1. the (definite article)

[edit] Danish

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /diːə/, [ˈd̥iːə]

[edit] Etymology

From Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(i)- (“to suck, suckle”). Cognate with Latin fellō, Sanskrit धयति (dhayati, “to suck”). Compare Danish (causative) dægge, Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (daddjan, “suckle”).

[edit] Noun

die c.

  1. breast milk, mother's milk, when sucked from the breast

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Verb

die (imperative di, infinitive at die, present tense dier, past tense diede, past participle har diet)

  1. suck (being nursed)

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Etymology

A merger of Old Dutch thie, thē, thia, thiu and similar forms of the demonstrative. As in Old High German ther, der it replaced the original masculine and feminine nominative forms from Proto-Germanic *sa.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Determiner

die m. and f., pl.

  1. that; referring to a thing or a person further away.
    die boom
    that tree
    die vrouw
    that woman
  2. those; referring to things or people further away.
    die vensters
    those windows

[edit] Declension

Dutch demonstrative determiners
Masculine/feminine Neuter Plural
Proximal deze dit deze
Distal die dat die


[edit] Pronoun

die m. and f., pl.

  1. (relative) who, which, that
    Ik ken geen mensen die dat kunnen.
    Don't know any people who can do that.
    Oh, maar ik ken iemand die dat wel kan!
    Oh, but I know somebody who can!

[edit] Usage notes

A preceding comma may alter the meaning of a clause starting with a relative pronoun. Compare the following sentences:

  • Alle arbeiders die staken zullen op sancties moeten rekenen.
    All workers who strike will have to count with sanctions. (specifically the workers who strike, not others)
  • Alle arbeiders, die staken, zullen op sancties moeten rekenen.
    All workers, who are striking, will have to count with sanctions. (they happen to be striking)

In the first sentence, only the striking workers will have to count with sanctions. In the second sentence, it is presupposed that all workers are supporting the strike, and all will suffer under the sanctions.

[edit] German

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Article

die (definite, feminine and plural form of der)

  1. The; declined form of der
    die Frau — “the woman”
    die Männer — “the men”

[edit] Usage notes

The definite article die is the form of der (“the”) used with the following types of noun phrases:

  • nominative singular feminine
  • accusative singular feminine
  • nominative plural for all genders
  • accusative plural for all genders

[edit] Declension

German definite articles
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative der die das die
Genitive des der des der
Dative dem der dem den
Accusative den die das die


[edit] Pronoun

die (relative or demonstrative)

  1. (in a subordinate clause as a relative pronoun) That; which; who; whom; whose.
    Ich kenne eine Frau, die das kann. — “I know a woman who can do that.”
  2. (as a demonstrative pronoun) This one; that one; these ones; those ones; she; her; it; they; them
    die da — “that one (or she or they) there”

[edit] Usage notes

In a subordinate clause, die indicates a person or thing referenced in the main clause. It is used with plural or feminine singular antecedents.

[edit] Declension

German relative pronouns
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative der die das die
Genitive dessen deren dessen deren
Dative dem der dem denen
Accusative den die das die


[edit] Interlingua

[edit] Noun

die (plural dies)

  1. A day.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Latin

[edit] Noun

diē

  1. ablative singular of diēs ("day").
    Sine die.
    Without a day.

[edit] Mandarin

[edit] Romanization

die

  1. Nonstandard spelling of diē.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of dié.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of diè.

[edit] Usage notes

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

[edit] Middle Dutch

[edit] Etymology

From Old Dutch thie, thia, from Proto-Germanic *sa.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /diə/, /di/

[edit] Pronoun

die m. and f.

  1. that, that one

[edit] Determiner

die m. and f.

  1. that
  2. the

[edit] Descendants

[edit] Saterland Frisian

[edit] Article

die m.

  1. the
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