Taxonomy of meanings for 壽:　　

  • 壽 shòu (OC: djuʔ MC: dʑiu) 殖酉切 上 廣韻：【壽考又州名楚孝烈王自陳徙都壽春號曰郡秦爲九江郡魏爲淮南郡梁爲南豫州周爲揚州隋平陳爲壽州亦靈壽木名生日南又姓王莽兖州牧壽良又漢複姓前漢燕王遣壽西長之長安蘇林云壽西姓也又承呪切 】
    • OLD
      • nabfeaturelong life; full lifespan; long-livedness
      • v[adN]nonreferentialsomeone who is long-lived, a veteran
      • vadNlong-lived
      • vienjoy a long life, live out one's span; be long-lived
    • generalised> AGE
      • nabfeaturevenerable advanced age
      • measure of> YEAR
          • lasting for years> ENDURING
            • vibe long-livedCH
            • nablonglivednessCH
            • vi+prep+Ncomparativebe more enduring than NLZ
            • process> LIVE
              • nabtimelifetime, span of life (long OR short)
              • vt+.V{NUM}adNreach the NUM age; live until NUM yearsDS
              • shòu LIFE
                • nablife-spanCH
        • anniversary> BIRTHDAY
            • appropriate action> CONGRATULATE
                • instrument for relevant action> DRUM
                  • concrete: with drinking of wine> TOAST
                    • vtoNdrink to the long life of
                    • concrete: make birthday presents> GIVE
                      • desired:ensure continued existence> SAFEGUARD
                        • shòu DRINK
                        • generalised: GREET
                  • 壽 shòu (OC: djuʔ MC: dʑiu) 承咒切 去 廣韻：【壽考 】

                    Additional information about 壽

                    說文解字:

                      Criteria
                    • LIVE

                      1. The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead").

                      2. Cún 存 (ant. wáng 亡 ) and zài 在 (ant. mò 沒 / 歿 "go under") refer to continuing in the state of being alive, but the word also refers to continued existence in general.

                      3. Huó 活 (ant. sǐ 死 ) specifically refers to the state of being alive when one might have been dead, and strongly connotes not only a failure to die but also the continued existence of life energy.

                      4. Mìng 命 refers specifically to one's life-span and not to the content of one's life that might be described in a biography.

                      5. Shēn 身 comes to refer to the life one conducts as in xíng shēn 行身 "conduct one's life" (Greek bios), and, and to one's lifespan as in zhōng shēn 終身 "all one's life".

                      6. Shòu 壽 (yāo 夭 "short life ended by an unnaturally early death") refers specifically to a lifespan as long as it naturally can be and should be.

                    • AGE

                      [ARCHAIC/CURRENT]

                      [BASIC/MARGINAL]

                      [BRIEF/LONG]

                      [COMMON/RARE]

                      [POETIC/PROSAIC]

                      [QUANTIFIED/UNQUANTIFIED

                      [ELEVATED], [INFORMAL]

                      1. Nián 年, basically an agricultural term, "year of one's life" refers to age specifically in terms of number year, and the focus is on this period as having a certain length.

                      [COMMON], [QUANTIFIED]

                      2. Suì 歲, basically an astronomical term, refers to the year as an astronomical unit and then to "number of years one has lived"; the refers to the unit by which years are counted and the length of time as such. A primary basis of the image in these words is plant life.

                      [BASIC], [FREQUENT], [QUANTIFIED]

                      3. Chǐ 齒 typically refers to the age of animals, but the word also has generalised meanings where it refers informally to the age or seniority of humans. The primary basis of the image for time is the fauna of teethed animals.

                      [ARCHAIC]; [[RARE]]

                      4. Shòu 壽 refers to venerable high age as something desirable rather than as connoting decrepitude.

                      [ELEVATED], [LONG]

                      5. Chūn qiū 春秋 refers periphrastically, in polite and flowery speech, to years of age. See YEAR.

                      [ELEVATED], [POETIC], [QUANTIFIED]

                    • DRINK

                      1. The dominant word for imbibing any liquid, alcoholic or non-alcoholic is yǐn 飲.

                      2. Shāng 觴 "to poculate, to drink on formal occasions" is a highly formal word referring always to the festive consumption of alcohol.

                      3. Jiào 釂 is a very rare formal word for drinking alcohol.

                      4. Chuò 啜 refers to slurping noisily and with gastronomic appreciation..

                      5. Xī 吸 refers to quiet sipping of any liquids.

                      6. Shòu 壽 refers specifically to drinking the health of an honoured person in his presence, and this involves consumption of alcohol.

                      7. Chuò 歠 is a poetic word for drinking alcohol.

                    • DIE

                      1. The dominant general word is sǐ 死 (ant. shēng 生 "be alive"), and this can refer to the death of plants as well as animals or men.

                      2. Bēng 崩 refers to the death of an emperor.

                      3. Hōng 薨 and cú 殂 / 徂 refers to the death of a senior official.

                      4. Zú 卒 is specifically the death of a common citizen, but occasionally also used to refer to the death of senior persons like dukes.

                      5. Piǎo 殍 and jǐn 殣 "(of common people) starve to death, die in the gutters" refer distinctly to the death of ordinary people.

                      6. Mò 沒 / 歿 (ant. cún 存 "survive") and zhōng 終 are abstract elevated, polite words to use about the death of a significant person.

                      7. Yì 殪 "get killed" is the result of violent action.

                      8. Yāo (old: yǎo) 夭, yǎo 殀 and shāng 殤 (ant. shòu 壽 "long-lived") refer to an early and not just untimely death.

                      9. Jí22 shì 即世 refers to the death of high-ranking personalities in the bureaucracy.

                      10. Wáng 亡 "cease to be" is a polite and periphrastic way of referring to death.

                      11. Xùn 殉 refers to the act of laying down one's life, dying for a cause.

                      NB: The periphrastic vocabulary of Chinese referring to death is extraordinarily large. I have more than 900 terms - if modern locutions gēbēr sǐ 咯嘣兒死 "die" are included.

                      Word relations
                    • Ant: (OLD)夭/DIE Yāo (old: yǎo) 夭 , yǎo 殀 and shāng 殤 (ant. shòu 壽 "long-lived") refer to an early and not just untimely death.
                    • Ant: (OLD)殀/DIE Yāo (old: yǎo) 夭 , yǎo 殀 and shāng 殤 (ant. shòu 壽 "long-lived") refer to an early and not just untimely death. xxx
                    • Oppos: (LIVE)身/SELF Shēn 身 typically refers to the subject in a contrastive way, and the word is often hard to distinguish from the nominal concept of a person. Adverbially, the word is different from PERSONALLY in that it does not connote distinction in the agent.