命不久矣 mìngbùjiǔyǐ at death's door Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents 命 mìng noun life The state of being alive; the physical life of a person or animal不久 bùjiǔ adverb not long referring to a short period of time or a short duration矣 yǐ [classical/final] (bound form) literary sentence-final particle indicating that an action is finished or a state has changed, similar to modern 了 le.