How to Write 殒 (yǔn) — Meaning “to fall; to die”

Imagine a "member" (员) of a group who falls into a "bad" (歹) situation and loses their life. This visual of a person falling into danger helps connect 歹 and 员 to the meaning of falling or dying.

Write the left radical 歹 carefully: first a short horizontal stroke, then a left-falling stroke, then a diagonal stroke, and finally a small dot. The right part 员 is wider, so balance the character by making the left side slightly narrower. A common mistake is confusing the left part 歹 with 夕 (evening) — remember 歹 has a dot at the bottom.

殒 means "to fall" or "to die" in general, while 殂 (cú) is an older word for "to die," often used for emperors. 殃 (yāng) means "disaster" or "misfortune," not death itself. Visually, 殒 contains 员, 殂 contains 且, and 殃 contains 央.

殒 appears mostly in formal or literary contexts, such as in 殒命 (yǔn mìng, to lose one's life) or 殒落 (yǔn luò, used for a star falling or a prominent person passing away). It is not used in everyday conversation but appears in news or respectful obituaries.

Common words containing 殒 include: 殒命 (yǔn mìng) — to lose one's life; 殒落 (yǔn luò) — to fall (like a star); to pass away; 殒身 (yǔn shēn) — to sacrifice one's life.