| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
| |
| die, dye (nn., vv.) |
| |
| |
| Die and dye are homophones, but the spellings reflect their very different meanings. The verb die means “to expire, to cease to exist” (Annual flowers die in the fall). The noun die is either “a device for cutting out or stamping out objects from metal or other material,” as in He made the dies for forming the gears, or “one of a pair of dice,” as in The die is cast. (See DICE.) The noun dye is “a coloring agent used on cloth or other material,” as in This dye won’t fade when it’s washed, and the verb dye means “to apply dye to something in order to color it,” as in She dyed her hair a remarkable red. Similarly, dying has to do with the ending of life (Her dying wish was that they let her die in peace), and dyeing has to do with coloring textiles, hair, and the like (She insisted on dyeing her hair). Both forms can be gerunds: Her dyeing of linen makes a mess of the kitchen. His dying was a great release for his family. The participial adjective dyed forms part of a frozen metaphor or cliché, deep-dyed, which seems always to go with villain or villainy. | 1 |
| The verb die is used with several prepositions and adverbs. Of and from indicate the cause, as in He died of malnutrition and She died from overexertion. For and in explain a purpose for the dying, as in The soldiers died for their country and They died in the effort to save their country. Those are Standard. With, also indicating a cause of dying, as in The baby died with pneumonia, is an old-fashioned idiom at best and is now dialectal or Nonstandard. To die off, to die away, and to die down are a few of the Standard combinations with adverbs, each used both literally and figuratively. | 2 |
| |
| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
|
|
