different between decay vs downfall

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

English

Etymology

From down- +? fall. In this spelling, from 16th century; spelled as two words from 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?nf??l/

Noun

downfall (countable and uncountable, plural downfalls)

1. A precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.

   Synonyms: (precipitous decline in fortune) fall, (death or rapid deterioration) doom
2. The cause of such a fall; a critical blow or error.
   • Orson Scott Card

     It is the downfall of evil, that it never sees far enough ahead.

3. An act of falling down.

Derived terms

• Operation Downfall

Translations

Verb

downfall (third-person singular simple present downfalls, present participle downfalling, simple past downfell, past participle downfallen)

1. (intransitive) To fall down; deteriorate; decline.
   • 1998, Peter Vink, Ernst A. P. Koningsveld, Steven Dhondt, Human factors in organizational design and management-VI:

     Common belief has been that in the future the number of middle managers will downfall due to empowerment and team-building.

   • 1998, Lithuanian physics journal:

     It should be noted that the magnitude of satellites decreases when tuning out of degeneracy, and in the wavelength range of 1.2-1.3 pm it downfalls to the value of 10-15% of the main spike magnitude.

Derived terms

• down-fallen, downfallen

Anagrams

• Wolfland, fall down, landfowl