mortality

mortality — noun

1. the fact that all living things, including humans, must eventually die and canno

1.名詞B2
釋義

the fact that all living things, including humans, must eventually die and cannot continue living forever

例句

After his heart attack, Rodrigo began thinking seriously about his own mortality.

collocation: [one's] own mortality

Yuki's poetry often explores themes of mortality and the passage of time.

collocation: themes of mortality

同義詞
  • impermanence

    More philosophical and literary; emphasises the temporary nature of all things, not just life

  • transience

    Formal or literary; focuses on the brief, fleeting quality of existence

  • finitude

    Academic and abstract; refers to the state of having limits, including but not limited to lifespan

反義詞

文法句型

mortality + of + noun phrase

possessive + mortality

用法筆記

Unlike death, which refers to a specific event when someone dies, mortality describes the general condition of being alive and therefore certain to die one day. Frequently uncountable and used with a possessive determiner (our mortality, human mortality).

常見錯誤

❌The doctor said his mortality was caused by cancer.
✅The doctor said his death was caused by cancer.
💡Mortality is the state of being subject to death, not the death event itself. Use 'death' for the specific occurrence.
❌There is a high mortality in that country' (ambiguous).
✅There is a high mortality rate in that country.
💡Without 'rate,' the sentence may be read as the abstract concept rather than a statistical measure.

2. a statistical measure of how many people die within a specific group, area, or t

2.名詞B2
釋義

a statistical measure of how many people die within a specific group, area, or time frame, often expressed as a rate or percentage

例句

A 2023 WHO study found infant mortality in rural Ethiopia dropped 40% after mass vaccination.

collocation: infant mortality

The hospital reported a lower-than-average mortality rate for heart surgery patients.

collocation: mortality rate for [procedure/condition]

同義詞
  • death rate

    More transparent and common in everyday language; interchangeable with 'mortality rate'

  • fatality rate

    Typically used for accidents, disasters, or diseases; emphasises individual fatal incidents

反義詞
  • survival rate

    The proportion of people who remain alive in a specific group or context

文法句型

[adjective] mortality

mortality + rate + for/of + [population]

mortality + among + [group]

用法筆記

Often used with a modifier that specifies the population or cause (infant mortality, cancer mortality, maternal mortality). When citing a specific number, 'mortality rate' is clearer than 'mortality' alone and is the preferred form in academic and journalistic writing.

常見錯誤

❌The mortality of cancer is 30%.
✅The cancer mortality rate is 30%.
💡Use 'mortality rate' rather than 'mortality' alone when giving a percentage.
❌Infant mortality increased by 5% deaths.
✅Infant mortality increased by 5%.
💡Avoid redundancy. 'Mortality' already refers to deaths; adding 'deaths' is repetitive.