freedom from obscenity or indecorum; modesty.
Observances of time, place, and of decency in general.
Burke.
Immodest words admit of no defense,
For want of decency is want of sense.
Roscommon. 2. That which is proper or becoming.
The external decencies of worship.
Atterbury.
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow
From all her words and actions.
Milton. Decene
(De"cene) n. [L. decem ten.] (Chem.) One of the higher hydrocarbons, C10H20, of the ethylene
series.
Decennary
(De*cen"na*ry) n.; pl. Decennaries [L. decennium a period of ten years; decem ten +
annus a year.]
1. A period of ten years.
2. (O. Eng. Law) A tithing consisting of ten neighboring families. Burrill.
Decennial
(De*cen"ni*al) a. [See Decennary.] Consisting of ten years; happening every ten years; as,
a decennial period; decennial games. Hallam.
Decennial
(De*cen"ni*al), n. A tenth year or tenth anniversary.
Decennium
(||De*cen"ni*um) n.; pl. Decenniums L. Decennia [L.] A period of ten years. "The present
decennium." Hallam. "The last decennium of Chaucer's life." A. W. Ward.
Decennoval
(De*cen"no*val De*cen"no*va*ry) a. [L. decem ten + novem nine.] Pertaining to the
number nineteen; of nineteen years. [R.] Holder.
Decent
(De"cent) a. [L. decens, decentis, p. pr. of decere to be fitting or becoming; akin to decus
glory, honor, ornament, Gr. dokei^n to seem good, to seem, think; cf. Skr. daç to grant, to give; and
perh. akin to E. attire, tire: cf. F. décent. Cf. Decorate, Decorum, Deign.]
1. Suitable in words, behavior, dress, or ceremony; becoming; fit; decorous; proper; seemly; as, decent
conduct; decent language. Shak.
Before his decent steps.
Milton. 2. Free from immodesty or obscenity; modest.
3. Comely; shapely; well-formed. [Archaic]
A sable stole of cyprus lawn
Over thy decent shoulders drawn.
Milton.
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed.
Pope. 4. Moderate, but competent; sufficient; hence, respectable; fairly good; reasonably comfortable or satisfying; as,
a decent fortune; a decent person.
A decent retreat in the mutability of human affairs.
Burke. — De"cent*ly, adv. — De"cent*ness, n.
