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decay

de·cay

UK/dɪˈkeɪ/ US/diˈkeɪ/ fairly common
verb (3) noun (5)

verb

1.

lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current

  • “the particles disintegrated during the nuclear fission process”
Synonyms
2.

fall into decay or ruin

  • “The unoccupied house started to decay”
Synonyms
3.

undergo decay or decomposition

  • “The body started to decay and needed to be cremated”

noun

1.
2.
3.
4.

an inferior state resulting from the process of decaying

  • “the corpse was in an advanced state of decay”
  • “the house had fallen into a serious state of decay and disrepair”
5.

Origin

From Middle English decaien (“to decrease, diminish”) and decai (“deterioration, decline in value”), from Anglo-Norman decaeir (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Vulgar Latin *dēcadere, etymologically restored form of Latin dēcidere (“to fall down, to fail, sink or perish”), from de- (“of, from, away, down”) + cadere (“to fall”). Compare decadent and decadence.

Phrases

  • alpha decay
  • array decay
  • arrested decay
  • bacterial decay
  • beta decay
  • bit decay
  • decay chain
  • decay constant

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.