Dictionary

deathbed en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɛθˌbɛd/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English dethbed, from Old English dēaþbedd (“deathbed; grave”), equivalent to death + bed. Cognate with Swedish dödsbädd (“deathbed”). Compare also Dutch sterfbed (“deathbed”), German Sterbebett and Totenbett (both “deathbed”), Danish dødsleje (“deathbed”).

Meanings

1. The bed on which someone dies.
   • He was once on his way to an old woman, who was on her death-bed and who had led a wicked life. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 254:
2. The last hours before death.
3. A grave; the site of a burial or entombment.
   • “Will you ask our oldest warriors to build me a barrow? Ask them to climb this headland and build me a death pile high on its top. Let my deathbed rise high above Hronesnesse.” 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 47:

Forms

Coordinates

birthbed

Deriveds

deathbed conversion · on one's deathbed

Translations (41)

de Totenbett (the bed on which someone dies) · ja 死の床 (the bed on which someone dies) · el νεκρική κλίνη (the bed on which someone dies) · af sterfbed (the bed on which someone dies) · fi kuolinvuode (the bed on which someone dies) · ta சாவுப்படுக்கை (the bed on which someone dies) · et surivoodi (the bed on which someone dies) · nn dødsleie (the bed on which someone dies) · es lecho de muerte (the bed on which someone dies) · is dánarbeður (the bed on which someone dies) · el νεκροκρέβατο (the bed on which someone dies) · da dødsleje (the bed on which someone dies) · fo deyðastrá (the bed on which someone dies) · nb dødsleie (the bed on which someone dies) · az ölüm yatağı (the bed on which someone dies) · it letto di morte (the bed on which someone dies) · nl doodsbed (the bed on which someone dies) · pl łoże śmierci (the bed on which someone dies) · pt leito de morte (the bed on which someone dies) · ang dēaþbedd (the bed on which someone dies) · fr lit de mort (the bed on which someone dies) · nl sterfbed (the bed on which someone dies) · bg смъ́ртно легло́ (the bed on which someone dies) · ru сме́ртное ло́же (the bed on which someone dies) · sh samrtna postelja (the bed on which someone dies) · te చావుపడక (the bed on which someone dies) · ru сме́ртный одр (the bed on which someone dies) · uk сме́ртне ло́же (the bed on which someone dies) · tr ölüm döşeği (the bed on which someone dies) · hu halálos ágy (the bed on which someone dies) · is banasæng (the bed on which someone dies) · sh самртна постеља (the bed on which someone dies) · sv dödsbädd (the bed on which someone dies) · is banalega (the bed on which someone dies) · nrf liet d'mort (the bed on which someone dies) · cmn 臨終床 /临终床 (the bed on which someone dies) · te మరణశయ్య (the bed on which someone dies) · ga leaba an bháis (the bed on which someone dies) · ta மரணப்படுக்கை (the bed on which someone dies) · de Sterbebett (the bed on which someone dies) · ka სასიკვდილო სარეცელი (the bed on which someone dies)