滅びる

• 読み: ほろびる
• ローマ字: horobiru
• 漢字の分解: 滅 (horo/metsu) — to perish, destroy, extinguish
• 発音: /ho.ɾo.bi.ɾɯ/

意味

To perish; to be destroyed; to die out; to become extinct; to fall to ruin. Describes the end of civilisations, species, or institutions.

A Group 2 (ichidan) intransitive verb. Carries a dramatic, literary tone. Used for large-scale destruction — empires falling, species going extinct, cultures disappearing. Common in historical writing, fantasy narratives, and environmental discussions. The transitive counterpart is 滅ぼす.

例文

1. かつて栄えた文明が戦争で滅びた。
2. このままでは多くの生物が滅びてしまう。
3. 古代ローマ帝国はなぜ滅びたのか。

使い方ガイド

場面: history, environment, literature

トーン: dramatic

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese. The kanji 滅 means 'to extinguish' or 'to destroy,' originally used in Buddhist texts to describe the impermanence of all things (滅, metsu).

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal