Meanings
alternative ling chi · alternative ling-ch'ih · alternative obsolete leng t'che · alternative obsolete ling-chy
- uncountableA form of execution used in China from roughly 900 to 1905 C.E., the "death by a thousand cuts", in which the condemned was killed by methodical removal of body parts with a knife.
The face of the dying man in the lingchi video monotonously evokes Maria Falconetti in Carl Theodor Dreyer ’s 1928 “Passion of Joan of Arc.”
2007 July 25, Roberta Smith, “Figures Moving as if in a Trance Across an Isolated, Lawless Island”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022Synonyms: slow slicing
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA form of execution used in China from roughly 900 to 1905 C.E., the "death by a thousand cuts", in which the condemned was killed by methodical removal of body parts with a knife.
Origin
- Mandarin凌遲
- Englishlingchi
Borrowed from Mandarin 凌遲 (língchí).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lingchi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lingchi
“lingchi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lingchi. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lingchi,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lingchi.
Source: lingchi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.