滅

Core sense is the cessation of a process, typically following the metaphor of extinguishing fire.

• Physical: To extinguish or put out flames, lamps, or sparks (can be agent-driven or passive).
• Political/Social: Annihilation, extermination, or total erasure; implies systematic wiping out of entities such as lineages, clans, cities, or states.
• Metaphysical (Buddhist): Used from the Han dynasty onward to translate concepts of Nirvana, denoting cessation or liberation (the blowing out of desire and suffering) rather than destruction. See also: 滅度.

• Transitive: [Subject] → 滅 → [Object] (e.g., to destroy, to exterminate).
• Intransitive/Statival: [Subject] → 滅 (e.g., to perish, to go out, to be annihilated).

• vs. 亡 (wáng): 滅 emphasizes the process of erasure or extinguishing; 亡 often describes the state of being gone or the event of death.
• vs. 絕 (jué): 滅 implies an entity was consumed entirely; 絕 implies a "cutting off" or break in a sequence or lineage.
• vs. 息 (xī): 滅 is absolute and often violent or final; 息 refers to a softer cessation, pause, or quiet ending.

Tang-period reading: *miɛt (Fanqie: 亡列).

Graphical variants include U+70D5 and U+706D; these typically do not alter lexical meaning in standard contexts.