Death can be described as all of the following:
End of life – life is the characteristic distinguishing physical entities having signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (death), or because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate.
(Death is) the opposite of:
Life – (see above)
Biogenesis – production of new living organisms or organelles. The law of biogenesis, attributed to Louis Pasteur, is the observation that living things come only from other living things, by reproduction (e.g. a spider lays eggs, which develop into spiders).
Fertilisation (Conception) – the beginning of an organism's life, initiated by the fusion of gametes resulting in the development of a new individual organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo.
Birth – act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe. Commonly considered the beginning of one's life. "First you are born, then you live life, then you die."
De-extinction – process of creating an organism, which is a member of or resembles an extinct species, or a breeding population of such organisms. Cloning is the most widely proposed method, although selective breeding has also been proposed. Similar techniques have been applied to endangered species. Though we have not yet brought an extinct species back to life
Survival – Survival is simply the need to live, the only real purpose of an organism is to generate offspring
Indefinite lifespan – term used in the life extension movement and transhumanism to refer to the hypothetical longevity of humans (and other life-forms) under conditions in which aging is effectively and completely prevented and treated. Their lifespans would be "indefinite" (that is, they would not be "immortal"), because protection from the effects of aging on health does not guarantee survival. Such individuals would still be susceptible to accidental or intentional death by disease, starvation, getting hit by a truck, murdered, and so on, but not death from aging, some animals can live forever such as the Turritopsis doohmii jellyfish, or the bowhead whale.
Individual death – termination of all biological functions within a living organism
Extinction – death of an entire species, or more specifically, death of the last member of a species
Extinction event – widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp reduction in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. Also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis.
Human extinction – hypothesized end of the human species. Various scenarios have been discussed in science, popular culture and religion (see end time)
Local extinction (extirpation) – condition of a species (or other taxon) that ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinction can be reversed by reintroduction of the species to the area from other locations; wolf reintroduction is an example of this.
Accidents – unplanned events or circumstances, often with lack of intention or necessity. They generally have negative outcomes which might have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to each accident had been recognized, and acted upon, prior to occurrence. An example of a type of accident that can cause death is a traffic collision.
List of accident types
Biological aging –
Disease –
Terminal illness
Injury
Wound
Mortal wound
Killing – causing the death of a living organism, usually for the purpose of survival, including the defense of self and or others.
Predation –
Homicide –
Murder – killing of a human done in malice
Human sacrifice
Sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Animal sacrifice
Suicide – act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often carried out as a result of despair, the cause of which is frequently attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or troubles with interpersonal relationships often play a role. Efforts to prevent suicide include limiting access to firearms, treating mental illness and drug misuse, and improving economic circumstances.
Assisted suicide –
Copycat suicide –
Familicide –
Forced suicide –
Honor suicide –
Internet suicide pact –
Mass suicide –
Murder–suicide –
Suicide pact –
Parasuicide –
Suicide attack –
Suicide by cop –
Capital punishment – legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual enforcement is an execution. Also called the "death penalty".
List of methods of capital punishment
Genocide – systematic destruction of all or a significant part of a racial, ethnic, religious or national group. Well-known examples of genocide include the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and more recently the Rwandan genocide.
War – organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by states or non-state actors. It is generally characterised by extreme violence, social disruption and an attempt at economic destruction. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of (collective) political violence or intervention. The set of techniques used by a group to carry out war is known as warfare.
Laughing oneself to death (extremely rare) –
Natural disasters –
Avalanches –
Earthquakes –
Volcanic eruptions –
Hydrological disasters – disasters involving bodies of water
Floods –
Limnic eruptions –
Tsunamis –
Meteorological disasters – disasters involving weather phenomena
Blizzards –
Cyclonic storms –
Tropical cyclones –
Extratropical cyclones –
Droughts –
Hailstorms –
Heat waves –
Tornadoes –
Wildfires –
Epidemics –
Space disasters –
Impact events –
Solar flares –
Causes of death by rate
Potential causes of death
Global catastrophic risks –
Preventable causes of death
Effects of the anticipation of death
Death anxiety – morbid, abnormal or persistent fear of one's own death or the process of his/her dying. One definition of death anxiety is a "feeling of dread, apprehension or solicitude (anxiety) when one thinks of the process of dying, or ceasing to ‘be’". Also known as thanatophobia (fear of death).
Mortality salience –
Effects on the deceased (and on the cadaver) – "deceased" is short for "deceased person", which is a person who has died and who is therefore dead. A cadaver is the body of a dead person.
End of consciousness – a dead body is no longer awake, but there is the question of where consciousness went to, if anywhere...
Is there consciousness after death? – there is a debate between proponents of the following possibilities:
Eternal oblivion
Afterlife
Cessation of breathing
Cardiac arrest – the heart has stopped beating (no pulse)
Pallor mortis – paleness which happens in the 15–120 minutes after death
Livor mortis – settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
Algor mortis – reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
Rigor mortis – limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate
Decomposition – reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor.
Putrefaction –
Other (possible) effects
Death erection –
Treatment of corpses
In the wild
Consumed by predators (if those predators made the kill) – a predator is an organism that hunts and then eats its prey
Consumed by scavengers – a scavenger is an animal that feeds on dead animal and/or plant material present in its habitat
Decomposed by detritivores – detritivores are organisms which recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice and dung beetles.
Fossilization
Catagenesis
In society
Embalming
Disposal of human corpses
Burial
Burial at sea
Natural burial
Sky burial
Cremation
Preservation of human corpses
Cryonics
Effects on others
Grief –
Mourning –
Depression –
Deaths of people
Deaths by year
Deaths of philosophers
Unusual deaths
Disasters by death toll
Natural disasters by death toll
Wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll
People by cause of death
TV actors who died during production
Deaths of other species
Timeline of extinctions
Fascination with death
History of dissection
Mummification
Premature obituaries
Philosophy and death
Meaning of life
Death and culture
Death and culture
Obituary
Death and the Internet
Disposal of human corpses
Expressions related to death
Personification of death – the concept of Death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of recorded history. For example, in English culture, Death is often given the name "the Grim Reaper" and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood.
Wake
Medical field and death
Abortion
Autopsy
Cadaveric spasm
Death rattle
End-of-life care
Euthanasia
Lazarus sign
Lazarus syndrome
Medical definition of death
Brain death
Clinical death
Death by natural causes
Unnatural death
Mortal wound
Organ donation
Terminal illness
Assisted suicide
Martyr
Mass grave
Right to life
Right to life debates
Abortion debate
Capital punishment debate
Capital punishment debate in the United States
Euthanasia debate
Right to die
Euthanasia
Euthanasia debate
War
Abortion law
Autopsy
Cause of death – the purpose of a forensic autopsy is to determine the cause of death, which is the condition or conditions officially determined to have resulted in a human's death. In modern times, such a determination usually is essential data on a governmental death certificate.
Capital punishment
Death row
Coroner
Crimes related to death
Crimes against humanity related to death
Murder
Massacre
Genocide
Death threat
Homicide
Manslaughter
Murder
Homicide occurring during a felony
Necrophilia
Disposal of human corpses
Disposition of the estate of the deceased
Probate
Administration of an estate on death
Inheritance
Probate court
Probate law
Will
Trust law
Legal death
Declared death in absentia
Death certificate
Cause of death
Right to die
Religion and death
Religious beliefs concerning death
Afterlife
Heaven
Hell
Resurrection
Religious ceremonies concerning death
Last rites
Funeral
Eulogy
Wake
Death care industry – companies and organizations that provide services related to death (i.e., funerals, cremation or burial, and memorials).
Death care industry sectors
Cemeteries –
Coffin industry –
Funeral homes –
Crematory industry –
Stonemasonry – craft of creating buildings, structures (including memorials), and sculpture (including headstones), using stone from the earth.
Headstone industry –
Memorial industry –
Death care industry products and services
Coffins (product) –
Funerals (service) –
Burial (service) –
Cremation (service) –
Headstones (product) –
Memorials (product) –
Death care professionals
Funeral director –
Stonemason – using stone from the earth, stonemasons create buildings, structures, and sculpture, including headstones and memorials.
Death care companies
Service Corporation International
Stewart Enterprises
Forensic pathology
Funeral director
Mortuary science
Necrobiology
Taphonomy
Thanatology
Death anxiety
Morbid curiosity
Karōshi
Maternal death
Mortality displacement
Mortality rate
Maternal death
Perinatal mortality
Infant mortality
Child mortality
Pseudoscience
Paranormal research
Parapsychology
Reincarnation research
Death-related paranormal phenomena
Deathbed phenomena
Afterlife
After-death communication
Séance
Ghosts
Near-death experience
Near-death studies
Necromancy
Grief support
Mothers of Murdered Offspring
Rainbows
The Grief Recovery Institute
Organizations dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment (death penalty)
International
Amnesty International
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Human Rights Watch
International Committee Against Executions
Reprieve (organisation)
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
In the United States
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Focus
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
Texas Moratorium Network
Texas Students Against the Death Penalty
Witness to Innocence
Book of the Dead
The American Way of Death, by Jessica Mitford
The American Way of Death Revisited, by Jessica Mitford
The Japanese Way of Death, by Hikaru Suzuki
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Lists of deaths by year
Immortality
Preventable causes of death
Coffin birth
Post-mortem interval
Promession
Resomation
political/legal
Cause of death
Death-qualified jury
Dying declaration
Faked death
Inquest
Suspicious death
After death
Other aspects
Afterlife
Cemetery
Customs
Death mask
Eternal oblivion
Examination
Funeral
Grief
Intermediate state
Mourning
Resurrection
Taboo on the dead
Vigil
Other
Death anniversary
Death anxiety
Death deity
Personification of death
Dying-and-rising god
Psychopomp
Death camp
Death drive
Death education
Death hoax
Death knell
Death march
Death messenger
Death notification
Death poem
Death squad
Festival of the dead
Necrophobia
The Order of the Good Death
Spiritual death
Thanatosensitivity
Undead
