decedent

See also: décèdent

English

Etymology

From Latin decedens, present active participle of decedere (“to depart, die”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsiːdənt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsi.dənt/

Noun

decedent (plural decedents)

1. (law, chiefly US) A dead person.
   • 2009 December 22, New York Post, “‘Dangerous drug mix’ likely killed Brittany”, in The Herald Sun‎^[1]:

     “A check of the nightstands revealed large amounts of prescription medication in the decedent’s name,” the coroner’s notes said, according to TMZ.com.

   • 2023 January 10, Sara Miller Llana, Whitney Eulich, Dominique Soguel, “As assisted dying broadens, countries wrestle with new ethical lines”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     A 2020 study found that MAiD recipients in Ontario tended to be wealthier, less likely to be in institutional care, and more likely to be married than the average Ontario decedent.

Translations

dead person

• Finnish: vainaja (fi); perittävä (inheritance law)

Adjective

decedent (not comparable)

1. Removing; departing; deceased.
   • 1846, Pennsylvania Law Journal, volume 5:

     satisfy every claimant upon the estate of a decedent person

See also

• deceased

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deːˈkeː.dent/, [d̪eːˈkeːd̪ɛn̪t̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈt͡ʃe.dent/, [d̪eˈt͡ʃɛːd̪en̪t̪]

Verb

dēcēdent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of dēcēdō