Meanings
verbperish (third-person singular simple present perishes, present participle perishing, simple past and past participle perished)
present singular third person perishes · participle present perishing · participle past perished · past perished
- intransitiveTo decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
The difficulty is that fresh foods perish due to the multiplication in them of harmful bacteria.
2015, Christopher Cumo, Foods that Changed History - intransitiveTo die; to cease to live.
When it goeth well with the righteous, the citie reioyceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 11:101 more example
[…]the ship struck upon a sand, and […] the sea broke over her in such a manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLCSynonyms: decease, pass away, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more
- obsoletetransitiveTo cause to perish.
that closeness did impair and a little perish his understanding
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Friendship”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC1 more example
"Leggo my shou'der, I tell you! Leggo!" He struggled with her, and the customers came forward. "Chrise! I'll perish you, if you ain't careful!" He turned suddenly,...
1898, William Pett Ridge, By Order of the Magistrate, page 209
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo die; to cease to live.
Similar
deceasepass awayassume room temperatureauger inbe called homebe gathered to one's fathersbe like the the Onebe no morebe with Jesusbe with the Lordbite the big onebite the biscuitbite the dustbuy the farmbuy itcark itcash incash in one's chipscheck outclose one's eyes for the last time
More synonyms by meaning
verbpass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
Similar
Broader
change stateturn
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinperīre“pass away, perish”
- Old Frenchperir
- Middle Englishperishen
- Englishperish
From Middle English perishen, borrowed from Old French perir (via the stem periss- used in various conjugations), from Latin perīre (“pass away, perish”), from per (“through”) + īre (“pass, go”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φθείρομαι, φθείρομαι
- φθείρομαι (phtheíromai)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- φθείρομαι (phtheíromai)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Bulgarian заги́вам, заги́на
- заги́вам (zagívam)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- заги́на (zagína)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Catalan perir
- perirto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Chinese Mandarin 死亡, 死
- 死亡 (sǐwáng)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 死 (sǐ)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 殞 /殒 (yǔn)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Czech hynout, zahynout
- hynoutto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- zahynoutto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- zhynoutto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Danish omkomme
- omkommeto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Dutch vergaan, bederven
- vergaanto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- bedervento decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- omkomento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- stervento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- vergaanto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Esperanto perei, perei
- pereito decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- pereito die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Estonian hävima, riknema
- hävimato decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- riknemato decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
- hukkumato die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- suremato die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Finnish näivettyä, kadota
- näivettyäto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- kadotato decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- pilaantuato decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
- menehtyäto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
French périr, périr
- périrto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- périrto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
German verderben, schlecht werden
- verderbento decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- schlecht werdento decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- umkommento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- ums Leben kommento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- verendento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- verderbento die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Hindi नाश, नष्ट
- नाश (nāś)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- नष्ट (naṣṭ)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Indonesian binasa, musnah
- binasato decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- musnahto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Italian perire
- perireto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Japanese 死ぬ, 亡びる
- 死ぬ (shinu)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 亡びる (horobiru)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 滅びる (horobiru)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 滅亡する (metsubō suru)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 斃死する (heishi suru)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Korean 죽다, 비명횡사하다
- 죽다 (jukda)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- 비명횡사하다 (bimyeonghoengsahada)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- 죽다 (jukda)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- 멸망하다 (myeolmanghada)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Latin pereō, perbītō
- pereōto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- perbītōto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- abolēscōto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- pereōto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- aboriscorto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Latvian zust
- zustto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Lithuanian žūti
- žūtito decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Malay musnah
- musnahto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Māori tipoko
- tipokoto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Norwegian Bokmål omkomme
- omkommeto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Polish rozkładać się, rozłożyć się
- rozkładać sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- rozłożyć sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- niszczećto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- zniszczećto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- rozpadać sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- rozpaść sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- psuć sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- zepsuć sięto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- gnićto decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
- zgnićto decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
- ginąćto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- zginąćto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Portuguese perecer
- perecerto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Romanian pieri
- pierito decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
Russian пропада́ть, пропа́сть
- пропада́ть (propadátʹ)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- пропа́сть (propástʹ)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- по́ртиться (pórtitʹsja)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- испо́ртиться (ispórtitʹsja)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- сги́нуть (sgínutʹ)to decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- ги́бнуть (gíbnutʹ)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- погиба́ть (pogibátʹ)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- поги́бнуть (pogíbnutʹ)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Slovak hynúť, zahynúť
- hynúťto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- zahynúťto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- zhynúťto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Spanish perecer, perecer
- perecerto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- perecerto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- fenecerto die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Swahili kuangamia
- kuangamiato die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Swedish förgås, förödas
- förgåsto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- förödasto decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing
- omkommato die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- stupato die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Ukrainian ги́нути, зги́нути
- ги́нути (hýnuty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- зги́нути (zhýnuty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- заги́нути (zahýnuty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- погиба́ти (pohybáty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- поги́бнути (pohýbnuty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- поги́нути (pohýnuty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- кона́ти (konáty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
- скона́ти (skonáty)to die, to pass away — see also die, pass away
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with perish
All rhymes →Sounds the same
parish (Mary–marry–merry merger)
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
perish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perish
MLA
“perish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perish. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perish.
Source: perish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.