About
殒 combines the death radical (歹) on the left, which signals its meaning related to mortality, with the phonetic component 亟 on the right. It functions as a classical verb meaning to execute or severely punish, often implying a righteous or state-sanctioned act. This term appears mainly in ancient historical texts and classical literature to describe the ultimate penalty for rebels or criminals, and is seldom used in modern speech, remaining a starkly formal literary word.
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