死に神

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: 3
かみ > がみ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
死に (kyūjitai)
死神

Etymology

First attested in the mid-Edo period, cited to a text in 1709.[1]

Compound of 死に (shini, dying, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative or stem form) of verb 死ぬ (shinu), “to die) + (kami, god, spirit).[1][2] The kami changes to gami as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) にがみ [shìnígámí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [ɕiɲ̟iɡa̠mʲi]

Noun

()(がみ) • (shinigami) 

  1. a god or spirit who leads humans toward their death
  2. (tarot) Death

Descendants

  • English: shinigami

See also

Proper noun

()(がみ) • (Shinigami) 

  1. the Grim Reaper (personification of death)
  2. a rakugo loosely based on the opera Crispino e la comare and revolves around an impoverished man meeting a shinigami

References

  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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