Decastyle
(Dec"a*style) a. [Gr. de`ka ten + sty`los a column.] (Arch.) Having ten columns in front; —
said of a portico, temple, etc. — n. A portico having ten pillars or columns in front.
Decasyllabic
(Dec`a*syl*lab"ic) a. [Pref. deca- + syllabic: cf. F. décasyllabique, décasyllable.] Having,
or consisting of, ten syllables.
Decatoic
(Dec`a*to"ic) a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, decane.
Decay
(De*cay") v. i. [imp. & p. p. Decayed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Decaying.] [OF. decaeir, dechaer,
decheoir, F. déchoir, to decline, fall, become less; L. de- + cadere to fall. See Chance.] To pass gradually
from a sound, prosperous, or perfect state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste away; to
decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated; to rot; to perish; as, a tree decays; fortunes decay; hopes
decay.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Goldsmith. Decay
(De*cay"), v. t.
1. To cause to decay; to impair. [R.]
Infirmity, that decays the wise.
Shak. 2. To destroy. [Obs.] Shak.
Decay
(De*cay"), n.
1. Gradual failure of health, strength, soundness, prosperity, or of any species of excellence or perfection; tendency
toward dissolution or extinction; corruption; rottenness; decline; deterioration; as, the decay of the body; the
decay of virtue; the decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay.
Perhaps my God, though he be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, and more -
May strengthen
my decays.
Herbert.
His [Johnson's] failure was not to be ascribed to intellectual decay.
Macaulay.
Which has caused the decay of the consonants to follow somewhat different laws.
James Byrne. 2. Destruction; death. [Obs.] Spenser.
3. Cause of decay. [R.]
He that plots to be the only figure among ciphers, is the decay of the whole age.
Bacon. Syn. — Decline; consumption. See Decline.
Decayed
(De*cayed") a. Fallen, as to physical or social condition; affected with decay; rotten; as, decayed
vegetation or vegetables; a decayed fortune or gentleman. — De*cay"ed*ness n.
Decayer
(De*cay"er) n. A causer of decay. [R.]
Decease
(De*cease") n. [OE. deses, deces, F. décès, fr. L. decessus departure, death, fr. decedere
to depart, die; de- + cedere to withdraw. See Cease, Cede.] Departure, especially departure from
this life; death.
His decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luke ix. 31.
And I, the whilst you mourn for his decease,
Will with my mourning plaints your plaint increase.
Spenser.
