decay
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decay
- /dɪˈkeɪ/ UK
- /diˈkeɪ/ US
Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
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.
noun decays
- Rot; any processes or result of organic matter being gradually decomposed, especially by microbial action. tooth decay/dental decay—wood-decay fungi—bacterial decay—photochemical decay
- Deterioration of condition; loss of status, quality, strength, or fortune. civic and moral decay—systemic decay—fall into decay—urban decay—arrested decay—memory decay
- Radioactive decay; decomposition of an atom or its nucleus. alpha decay—gamma decay—fission decay—decay chain
- Particle decay; decomposition of a sub-atomic particle.
- Continuous decrease of a quantity. exponential decay—decay rate—orbital decay—decay time—decay constant—time decay
- Overthrow, destruction, ruin, death. Let’s cheere our ſouldiers to incounter him, That grieuous image of ingratitude: That fiery thirſter after Soueraigntie: […] Reſolue my Lords and louing ſouldiers now, To ſaue your king and country from decay:
- Array decay.
verb decays · decaying · decayed
- To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality. The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
- To undergo bit rot, that is, gradual degradation.
- To undergo software rot, that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment, so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
- To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body). Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed.
- To rot, to go bad. The cat's body decayed rapidly.
- To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons; to undergo radioactive decay. Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
- To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
- Loss of airspeed due to drag.
- To cause to rot or deteriorate. The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
- Of an array: to lose its type and dimensions and be reduced to a pointer, for example when passed to a function.
Similar: fester
