(いがい)

いがい
noun
remains; corpse; dead body
1. remains; corpse; dead body
The physical remains of a deceased person or animal. A formal, literary word used especially in news reports and written language.
遺骸(いがい)発見(はっけん)された。
The remains were discovered.
兵士(へいし)たちの遺骸(いがい)故郷(こきょう)送還(そうかん)された。
The remains of the soldiers were repatriated to their homeland.
登山隊(とざんたい)(ゆき)(なか)から遭難者(そうなんしゃ)遺骸(いがい)収容(しゅうよう)するまでに、数日(すうじつ)かかった。
It took several days for the mountaineering team to recover the remains of the victim from the snow.

A compound of () (left behind, bequeathed) and (がい) (body, remains). This is a formal, somewhat literary word for a dead body. It appears frequently in news reporting, historical writing, and literature.

The tone is respectful and detached, making it appropriate for formal accounts of deaths, war casualties, and disaster victims.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 遺骸(いがい)収容(しゅうよう)する: to recover remains
  • 遺骸(いがい)()(わた)す: to hand over remains
  • 遺骸(いがい)埋葬(まいそう)する: to bury remains
  • 遺骸(いがい)発見(はっけん)される: for remains to be discovered

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 遺体(いたい): dead body, remains — the standard formal term, more common than 遺骸(いがい) in modern usage
  • 死体(したい): corpse, dead body — more clinical and blunt; used in forensic and police contexts
  • 亡骸(なきがら): mortal remains — poetic and deeply respectful; used in literature and eulogies