Appointed for death — condemned to die, like a criminal awaiting execution. Paul uses it for his own apostolic experience.
The Greek epithanatios (from epi, upon/at + thanatos, death) means one appointed to death, condemned as a criminal to be executed. It appears once in the NT: 1 Corinthians 4:9 — 'For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to death (epithanatious). We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.' Paul draws on the image of Roman triumphal processions where captives condemned to die were displayed at the end.
The epithanatios of 1 Corinthians 4:9 is Paul's savage rebuttal to the Corinthians' triumphalism. They were already reigning, already rich, already kings — while the apostles trailed at the end of God's procession as condemned men. The image of the Roman triumph's final display is precise: these were the prisoners who would be killed in the arena after the parade. Paul's theology of the cross produces this 'theology of the cross' for ministry: true apostolic power is displayed in weakness, suffering, and apparent failure. This was incomprehensible to Corinthian culture — and remains countercultural today.