a child dying before its parents
A sorrowful term referring to the unnatural order of death where a child predeceases their parents. Used in solemn or literary contexts.
There is nothing more painful for parents than a child dying before them.
Compound of 逆さ (sakasa, 'reverse, inverted') and 別れ (wakare, 'parting, separation'), literally 'reverse parting'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is conventionally associated with the tragic reversal of the expected order of death.