喜樂美語

Think of a fire that has burned down low. There is still light in it and still some heat, so it is not out yet — but anyone looking can see it is going, and there is not much left. Dying always points at that stretch between still here and gone. Sometimes it is a life running down. Sometimes it is a game with two minutes left on the clock. Sometimes it is a craft that fewer and fewer people still practise. The thing is always present, and always on its way out.

「dying」的核心畫面可以想成一堆快燒完的火。火還在，還有光，也還有一點熱。所以它還沒結束。但你一眼就看得出來，它撐不了多久了。dying 講的就是「還在」和「沒了」中間的那一段。有時候那是一條慢慢流失的生命。有時候那是一場只剩最後幾分鐘的球賽。有時候那是一門會的人越來越少的手藝。中文會翻成「垂死的」「快結束的」「逐漸消失的」，看起來差很多，但底下都是同一團快燒完的火。

From the word’s history

The source records only this: dying is die plus the ending -ing, with the spelling ie changed to y (which also keeps it apart from dyeing, colouring cloth). That -ing is where the whole feeling comes from. It marks something in progress, so the word never lands on the end itself — it stays on the stretch of time leading up to it. That is why minutes and crafts can be dying too.

來源記的很單純：dying 就是 die 加上 -ing，拼字把 ie 換成 y（順便跟 dyeing「染色」分開）。整個感覺其實都來自 -ing 這個尾巴。-ing 表示「正在進行」，所以 dying 從來不是指終點本身。它一直停在走向終點的那一段路上。也因為這樣，時間和手藝也可以是 dying。

Wiktionary entry for dying (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4), etymology_text: "From die + -ing."

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

同家族的字

意思相近

fadinglastdisappearingfailingfinalvanishingpassing awaydeathbedmoribunddeclining

意思相反

livinggrowingsurvivingthrivingrecoveringboominghealthy

原始詞典資料6 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

dyingadj詞源 1/ˈdaɪ.ɪŋ/

  • 1

    Approaching death; about to die; moribund.

    • The dying dog was put out of his misery with a single shot!
    • a dying fire
  • 2

    Declining, terminal, or drawing to an end.

    • In the dying moments of daylight I glimpsed a sail on the horizon.
    • The dieselisation of this line has not been, as is sometimes the case, a means of reviving a dying branch, but an improving hand to a healthy service.
  • 3

    Pertaining to death, or the moments before death.

    • His dying words were of his mother.
    • until my dying day

dyingnoun詞源 1/ˈdaɪ.ɪŋ/

  • 1

    The process of approaching death; loss of life; death.

    • “I'm looking forward to the most fascinating experience in life, which is dying,” he said. “You've got to approach your dying the way you live your life—with curiosity, with hope, with fascination, with courage and with the help of your friends.”

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。