die
To cease to live; to expire.
Etymology
From Middle English dien, from Old Norse deyja "to die," from Proto-Germanic *dawjaną, from PIE *dʰew- "to pass away, become senseless." The word replaced the Old English steorfan "to die" (which survives as "starve," now narrowed to dying of hunger). PIE had another death root *mer- "to die" giving Latin morī and English "murder" and "mortal."
The Journey: *dʰew- → die
*dʰew-
*dawjaną
deyja
dien
die
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *dʰew-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | thnḗskō (I die) |
| Latin | morī (to die) |
| Sanskrit | dhvaṃsati (falls to pieces) |
| Old Norse | deyja |
| Old English | steorfan (starve) |
Did You Know?
English "die" came from Old Norse, replacing the Old English word steorfan. That displaced word survived as "starve" — originally meaning to die of any cause, now only by hunger. English borrowed its word for death from the Vikings.