Word Confusion: Die versus Dye

Posted February 15, 2018 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
8 Nov 2022

I was at a dyeing workshop for a week, and one night some friends and I headed out for dinner. Now, I’m horrible about wearing gloves for most tasks, including dyeing. When the waitress showed up to take our order, she gasped, horrified. We all looked around and then realized my arms and hands were, um, varied shades of yellow.

I laughed and told her I was dyeing. She thought dying. Even more horrified that I was taking it so lightly. Then I explained.

Actually that horror is what I tend to feel when some author has her character dyeing from a gut wound. Now, I’ve tried lots of ways to dye fabric, baskets, etc., but I never thought of using blood.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Die	Dye
DIED by Jimmy Brown is under the CC BY-2.0 license, via Flickr. — When you die, you get a tombstone.	Easter Eggs by Pamela Carls under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — Let’s dye Easter eggs!
Part of Grammar:
[Historical] Singular form of dice Noun ¹; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: dies (device) dice Gerund: dying Third person present verb: dies Past tense or past participle: died Present participle: dying	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: dyes Gerund: dyeing Third person present verb: dyes Past tense or past participle: dyed Present participle: dyeing
Noun: [Machinery; plural dies] A device for cutting or molding metal into a particular shape ¹ An engraved device for stamping a design on coins or medals A hollow device of steel, often composed of several pieces to be fitted into a stock, for cutting the threads of bolts or the like One of the separate pieces of such a device A steel block or plate with small conical holes through which wire, plastic rods, etc., are drawn [Architecture] The cubical part of a pedestal between the base and the cornice A dado or plinth Verb, intransitive: [Of a person, animal, or plant] Stop living ² [die for] Be killed for (a cause) Have a specified status at the time of one’s death [die out] Become extinct Be forgotten Become less loud or strong [die back; of a plant] Decay from the tip toward the root [die off] Die one after another until few or none are left [die away; of a sound] To become weaker or fainter and then cease [Of a fire or light] Stop burning or gleaming [Informal; of a machine] Stop functioning or run out of electric charge [Informal] Used to emphasize that one wants to do or have something very much Used to emphasize feelings of shock, embarrassment, amusement, or misery [Archaic] Have an orgasm To lose force, strength, or active qualities To be no longer subject Become indifferent To pass gradually [Usually followed by away, out, or down] Fade or subside gradually [Theology] To lose spiritual life Verb, transitive: [Of a person, animal, or plant] Stop living ² To impress, shape, or cut with a die	Noun: A natural or synthetic substance used to add a color to or change the color of something The color or shade produced by dyeing Verb, intransitive: Take color well or badly during the dyeing process To impart color, as a dye To become colored or absorb color when treated with a dye Verb, transitive: Add a color to or change the color of (something) by soaking it in a solution impregnated with a dye Treat cloth, hair, etc., with a dye Color with a substance containing coloring matter To impart color by means of a dye
Examples:
Noun: The die is cast, I can’t turn back. Please, that boy is straight as a die. Is she gonna die, Momma? We’re missing a die. We can use a die to put threads on that pipe. Hetty picked up this great die for cutting gift tags. Home die cutting machines are manual or digital. Paper clips are made with a die. Wire is made by drawing it through a conical die. Verb, intransitive: Everyone will die someday. The laughter died on his lips. Superstitions die slowly. The motor died. You could say that Marilyn died away from worldly matters once her husband passed. The storm slowly died down. His faith died away. They were prepared to die for their country. The inventor died a pauper. Many species died out. Her genius has assured her name will never die. After a while, the noise died down. Rhubarb dies back to a crown of buds each winter. The original founders died off or retired. The fire will die if you don’t put wood on it. Three toasters have died on me. My cell phone died while I was trying to contact him. They must be dying for a drink. He’s dying to meet you. Fade out, and then let the hoofbeats gradually die away. We nearly died laughing when he told us. I nearly died when I saw them. I’m simply dying of thirst. Verb, transitive: The king died a violent death. She died of cancer. The sheep died from the heat.	Noun: The dye is particularly strong this time. I love the color dye that I get from yellow onions. Do you like my new dye job? Helen got the most gorgeous colors when she did a mud dye. Verb, intransitive: It’s good material — it should dye well. This brand dyes well. This cloth dyes easily. Verb, transitive: I dyed my hair blonde. She should have streaked her hair instead of dyeing it flat black. That girl is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. I thought I’d over dye this quilt with a raspberry color to try and pull it together color-wise. That combination of colors dyed really green. “Tina is ‘rebelling’ by dyeing her hair black. She tells me she’s a Goth,” Mom said with an eyeroll.
Derivatives:
Adjective: die-cast Noun: death, die-casting, die-in, die-off, die-sinker, die-stamping, Dies Irae, dieback, diehard, diestock Verb, transitive: die-cast, die-link	Adjective: dyable, dyeable, undyable, undyed Noun: dyer, dyeline, dyestuff Verb, transitive: redye, redyed, redying
History of the Word:
Middle English from the Old French de, which is from the Latin datum meaning something given or played; the neuter past participle of dare. Middle English from the Old Norse deyja, is of Germanic origin and related to dead.	Old English dēag (noun), dēagian (verb). The noun is not recorded from Old English to the late 16th century, when it was re-formed from the verb.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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