decay

Meanings

Noun

• The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
• A deterioration of condition; loss of status or fortune.
• Overthrow, downfall, ruin.
• The situation, in programming languages such as C, where an array loses its type and dimensions and is reduced to a pointer, for example by passing it to a function.

Verb

• To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
• To rot, to go bad.
• To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
• 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.
• Of an array: to lose its type and dimensions and be reduced to a pointer, for example when passed to a function.

Origin

• From Middle English decayen, dekeyen, from Anglo-Norman decaeir, from Medieval Latin *dēcadere, restored form of Latin dēcidō, from de + cadō; compare decadent and decadence.