different between cadence vs decay

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Italian cadenza, from Latin *cadentia, form of cad?ns, form of cad? (“I fall, I cease”), from Proto-Italic *kad?, from Proto-Indo-European *?ad- (“to fall”). Doublet of cadenza and chance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ke?.dn?s/

Noun

cadence (countable and uncountable, plural cadences)

1. The act or state of declining or sinking.
2. Balanced, rhythmic flow.
3. The measure or beat of movement.
4. The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound.
5. (music) A progression of at least two chords which conclude a piece of music, section or musical phrases within it. Sometimes referred to analogously as musical punctuation.
6. (music) A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
7. (speech) A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
8. (dance) A dance move which ends a phrase.

   The cadence in a galliard step refers to the final leap in a cinquepace sequence.

9. (fencing) The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions.
10. (running) The number of steps per minute.
11. (cycling) The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle.
12. (military) A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call.
13. (heraldry) cadency
14. (horse-riding) Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse.
15. (software engineering) The frequency of regular product releases.

Synonyms

• (musical conclusion): clausula

Derived terms

Related terms

• cadaver

Translations

See also

• Tierce de Picardie

Verb

cadence (third-person singular simple present cadences, present participle cadencing, simple past and past participle cadenced)

1. To give a cadence to.
2. To give structure to.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.d??s/

Etymology 1

From Middle French cadence, borrowed from Italian cadenza. Doublet of chance.

Noun

cadence f (plural cadences)

1. cadence

Derived terms

• cadencer

Etymology 2

Verb

cadence

1. first-person singular present indicative of cadencer
2. third-person singular present indicative of cadencer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of cadencer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of cadencer
5. second-person singular imperative of cadencer

Further reading

• “cadence” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English decayen, dekeyen (“to decrease, diminish”), from Anglo-Norman decaeir (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Medieval Latin *d?cadere, restored form of Latin decidere (“to fall away, fail, sink, perish”), from de (“down”) + cadere (“to fall”); compare decadent and decadence.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??ke?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• (US) enPR: d?-k??, IPA^(key): /di.?ke?/

Noun

decay (countable and uncountable, plural decays)

1. The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
2. A deterioration of condition; loss of status or fortune.

Derived terms

Related terms

• deciduous

Translations

Verb

decay (third-person singular simple present decays, present participle decaying, simple past and past participle decayed)

1. (intransitive) To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.

   The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.

   1. (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo bit rot, that is, gradual degradation.
   2. (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo software rot, that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment, so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
   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, page 120:

        Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed.

2. (intransitive, of organic material) To rot, to go bad.

   The cat's body decayed rapidly.

3. (intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
   • 2005, Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ?ISBN, page 349:

     Uranium decays 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) To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
5. (intransitive, aviation) Loss of airspeed due to drag.
6. (transitive) To cause to rot or deteriorate.

   The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.

Translations

Further reading

• decay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• decay in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Dacey