尸 (shī) - corpse, dead body & to preside over, act as

尸Tone 1

shī ｜ 3 strokes ｜ radical: 尸

上姝

尸 · shī

corpse, dead body;

to preside over, act as;

radical form representing a person lying down or a corpse.

corpse, dead bodyto preside over, act asradical form representing a person lying down or

Usage highlights

corpsecorpse positioncorpse examinationcorpse poisoncorpse puppetcorpse transformation

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • 生— life, living
  • 活— alive, living

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The corpse was found in the river (尸体).
  • He acts as the chairman in the meeting (尸位).
  • The radical appears in many characters (尸部首).
  • Ancient rituals involved corpse handling (尸祭).

Collocations

  • corpse(尸体)
  • corpse position(尸位)
  • corpse examination(尸检)
  • corpse poison(尸毒)
  • corpse puppet(尸傀)
  • corpse transformation(尸变)

Idioms

  • Hold a position without doing any work(尸位素餐)
  • Corpse walking in the wild(行尸走肉)
  • Five horses dismembering a corpse(五马分尸)
  • Borrow a corpse to return the soul(借尸还魂)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Originally depicted a person lying down in ancient oracle bone script, later specialized to mean corpse.
  • In ancient Chinese rituals, someone would 'act as' the deceased ancestor during ceremonies - hence the meaning 'to preside over'.
  • As a radical, it often appears in characters related to the body, dwelling, or things that are laid out flat.

FAQ