decay

Pronunciation: /dɪˈkeɪ/

The English word “decay” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

Rot; any processes or result of organic matter being gradually decomposed, especially by microbial action.
Deterioration of condition; loss of status, quality, strength, or fortune.
Radioactive decay; decomposition of an atom or its nucleus.
Particle decay; decomposition of a sub-atomic particle.
Continuous decrease of a quantity.
Overthrow, destruction, ruin, death.
Array decay.

verb

To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
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).
To rot, to go bad.
To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons; to undergo radioactive decay.
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.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.