decay
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Old French decair (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Medieval Latin *decadere, restored form of Latin decidere (“to fall away, fail, sink, perish”), from de (“down”) + cadere (“to fall”); compare decadent and decadence.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
decay (uncountable)
- The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay, this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years. Is reminded me of a sepia painting I had once seen done from the ink of a fossil Belemnite that must have perished and become fossilized millions of years ago. I was about to throw this camphor on one side, and then remembering that it was inflammable and burnt with a good bright flame, I put it into my pocket.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- A deterioration of condition.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
process or result of being gradually decomposed
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deterioration of condition
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[edit] Verb
decay (third-person singular simple present decays, present participle decaying, simple past and past participle decayed)
- To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
- To rot, to go bad.
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[edit] Translations
deteriorate
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rot
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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[edit] Related terms
[edit] External links
- decay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- decay in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
