death (n.)
Old English deað “death, dying, cause of death,” in plura, “ghosts,” from Proto-Germanic dauthuz (cognates: Old Saxon doth, Old Frisian dath, Dutch dood, Old High German tod, German Tod, Old Norse dauði, Danish død, Swedish död, Gothic dauþus “death”), from verbal stem dheu– “to die” + –thuz suffix indicating “act, process, condition.”
Death’s-head, a symbol of mortality, is from 1590s.
Death row first recorded 1940s.
Death knell is attested from 1814;
death penalty from 1875;
death rate from 1859.
Death wish first recorded 1896.
