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decay

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishdecayen,dekeyen(“to decrease, diminish”), fromAnglo-Normandecaeir(“to fall away, decay, decline”), fromVulgar Latin*dēcadere, etymologically restored form ofLatindēcidere(“to fall away, fail, sink, perish”), fromde(“down”) +cadere(“to fall”). Comparedecadent anddecadence.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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decay (countable anduncountable,pluraldecays)

  1. (ecology, medicine) Theprocess orresult of being graduallydecomposed;rot,decomposition.
    • 1895, H. G. Wells, chapter X, inThe Time Machine:
      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 universaldecay, this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.
  2. Adeterioration ofcondition; loss ofstatus,quality,strength, orfortune.
    civic and moral decay
    systemic decay
    1. (physics)Ellipsis ofradioactive decay.
    2. a gradual decrease of a stored charge, magnetic flux, current, etc.
    3. progressive change in the path of an earth-orbiting satellite due to atmospheric drag.
  3. (obsolete)Overthrow,downfall,destruction,ruin.
    • c.1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe],Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published1592,→OCLC; reprinted asTamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press,1973,→ISBN,Act II, scene vi:
      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 fromdecay:
  4. (programming) The situation, in programming languages such asC, where anarray loses itstype anddimensions and is reduced to apointer, for example by passing it to afunction.

Derived terms

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Related terms

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Translations

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process or result of being gradually decomposed
deterioration of condition
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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decay (third-person singular simple presentdecays,present participledecaying,simple past and past participledecayed)

  1. (intransitive) Todeteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
    The pair loved to take pictures in thedecaying hospital on forty-third street.
    1. (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergobit rot, that is, gradual degradation.
    2. (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergosoftware rot, that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment, so as to eventually becomelegacy orobsolete.
    3. (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).
      • 2009, Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen,Space Law: A Treatise, page120:
        Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbitdecayed.
  2. (intransitive, of organic material) Torot, to go bad.
    The cat's bodydecayed rapidly.
  3. (intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) Tochange byundergoingfission, byemittingradiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons; to undergo radioactive decay.
    • 2005,Encyclopedia of Earth Science, edited by Timothy M. Kusky,→ISBN, page349:
      Uraniumdecays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
  4. (intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) Toundergooptical decay, that is, torelax to a lessexcitedstate, usually byemitting aphoton orphonon.
  5. (intransitive, aviation) Loss ofairspeed due todrag.
  6. (transitive) Tocause torot ordeteriorate.
    The extreme humiditydecayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
  7. (programming, intransitive) Of anarray: to lose itstype anddimensions and be reduced to apointer, for example when passed to afunction.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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to deteriorate
to rot—seerot
To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

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Anagrams

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