Death

Death

See also: death and deaþ

English

Death as a skeleton with a scythe.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an 1887 painting by Victor Vasnetsov. The Lamb is visible at the top.

Proper noun

Death

1. The personification of death, often a skeleton with a scythe, and one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

   Synonyms: the angel of death, Azrael, the Grim Reaper, the reaper, the pale rider, the rider, psychopomp, Santa Muerte, the Shinigami

   Death can be seen on a tarot card.

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], OCLC 55746801, page 137:

     Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

     He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider.

Coordinate terms

• Chronos
• Father Time

Derived terms

• I am become Death, destroyer of worlds

Translations

the personification of death

Breton: Ankoù (br) Chinese: Mandarin: 死神 (zh) (sǐshén) Cornish: Ankow m Czech: smrtka (cs) f Esperanto: Mortulo Finnish: mana (fi) French: Mort (fr) f, Camarde (fr) f (informal) German: Tod (de) m (personified), Sensenmann (de) m, Gevatter Tod m, Schlafes Bruder m, Schnitter (de) m, Schnitter Tod m, Todesengel (de) m, Todbringer m, Knochenmann (de) m, König der Toten m, Freund Hain m, Freund Hein m, Boanlkramer m, Boandlkramer (de) m, Boanl m, Boandl m (preceding 4 terms - Bavarian) Hebrew: מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת‎ (he) m (mal'ách hamávet), הַמָּוֶת‎ m (hamávet) Hungarian: Halál, Kaszás Icelandic: Dauðinn Italian: Morte f Japanese: 死神 (ja) (しにがみ, shinigami) Korean: 사신(死神) (ko) (sasin), 저승사자 (jeoseungsaja) Azerbaijani: Əzrail Kazakh: Ажал (Ajal) Latin: Persephonē f Portuguese: Morte f Russian: смерть (ru) f (smertʹ) (с косо́й), (colloquial) костля́вая (ru) f (kostljávaja), (religion) а́нгел сме́рти (ru) m (ángel smérti) Spanish: muerte (es) f Swedish: döden (sv), liemannen (sv) Vietnamese: tử thần (vi) (死神), thần chết

See also

• La Calavera Catrina
• Hades

Further reading

• Death (personification) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Theda, hated