尸 (shī): corpse

Measure Word

一具尸 jù

Meanings

1 corpse
2 dead body

Characters

尸

shī

corpse, body

Examples

警察在河边发现了一具尸体。

Jǐngchá zài hébiān fāxiàn le yī jù shītǐ.

The police found a corpse by the river.

尸检结果还没出来。

Shī jiǎn jiéguǒ hái méi chūlái.

The autopsy results haven't come out yet.

Tips

usage

尸 is usually combined with 体 as 尸体 (shītǐ) meaning 'corpse'. On its own, 尸 is more literary or used as a component in compounds like 尸检 (autopsy).

Components

pictograph

尸 shī

corpse; body lying down

Pictograph of a person lying down or seated with knees drawn up — the body of one impersonating an ancestor at a sacrificial rite, or by extension a corpse. As Kangxi radical 44 it indexes body-position characters: 居 (reside), 屋 (house, body in shelter), 屁 (fart), 尾 (tail), 屎 (excrement).

Radical

Corpse Kangxi #44

Originally a pictograph of a person seated or reclining as a ritual stand-in for the deceased at sacrifices. As a radical it marks characters for bodies, dwellings, and things lying flat or extended — 屋 (house), 居 (reside), 屁 (buttocks), 屎 (excrement), 层 (layer).