Onyomi: ボウ, モウ · Kunyomi: な.い, な.き-, ほろ.びる, ほろ.ぶ, ほろ.ぼす · Meanings: deceased, dying, perish, the late
Kanji for deceased, dying, perish, the late
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The kanji 亡 is an ancient character with a simple but powerful image. Early versions showed a shape resembling a person or object disappearing behind a cover or slipping away from sight. The short horizontal line at the top represented something like a boundary or a lid, and the shape below suggested something fading or being lost beyond that line. Over time, this visual idea came to express “to disappear,” “to be gone,” or “to lose something.” The character carried the feeling of something slipping out of existence, whether a person, an object, or even a state of being. From this, 亡 gained meanings related to loss, death, and disappearance.
亡 shows something passing beyond a boundary and disappearing from view, giving the meaning of being lost, gone, or no longer present.
Imagine something crossing a line and vanishing right after — gone before you can stop it. That fading-away feeling is 亡: to disappear or be lost.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 亡 | ぼう | death | Noun, Noun, used as a suffix |
| 無くす | なくす | to lose (something) | common JLPT-N2 JLPT-N5 Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |
| 亡くなる | なくなる | to die, to pass away | common JLPT-N4 Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 失う | うしなう | to lose | common JLPT-N3 Godan verb with 'u' ending, Transitive verb |
| 滅びる | ほろびる | to go to ruin, to go under, to fall, to be destroyed, to die out, to become extinct, to perish | common JLPT-N1 Ichidan verb, Intransitive verb |
| 滅ぼす | ほろぼす | to destroy, to overthrow, to wreck, to ruin | JLPT-N1 Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |
| 亡命 | ぼうめい | fleeing from one's country, seeking asylum, defection, emigration (for political reasons), (going into) exile, becoming a (political) refugee | common Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 亡霊 | ぼうれい | departed spirit, soul of the dead | Noun |
| 亡骸 | なきがら | remains, corpse, (dead) body | common Noun |
| 亡くす | なくす | to lose (through death; e.g. a wife, child) | common Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |