亡 wáng perish
death; destruction; to lose; to perish
How it came to be
The old dictionary reads it as a person going into a hidden place, with the stroke that closes over them as the hiding. To be gone and never found, and in the end to die.
用法
- Means death/to perish/to lose - 死亡 (sǐwáng) death; 伤亡 (shāngwáng) casualties; 逃亡 (táowáng) flee for one's life.
- Formal/written for dying or being destroyed: 灭亡 (mièwáng) be wiped out. Idiom 亡羊补牢 (wángyáng-bǔláo) 'mend the pen after the sheep are lost' - better late than never.