different between decay vs rotting

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 Middle English rotynge (“rotting”), from Old English rotung; equivalent to rot +? -ing. Conflated with Middle English rotende, present participle of roten (“to rot”), from Old English rotiende, present participle of rotian (“to rot”).

Verb

rotting

1. present participle of rot

Noun

rotting (plural rottings)

1. The process by which something rots.
   • 1686, Robert Plot, The Natural History of Staffordshire (page 214)

     […] the mould on the boles of the other [trees], that lyes commonly there, and is made of the annual rottings of their own leaves.

2. Material that has rotted.
   • c. 2009, Janice N. Harrington, Possum

     From the compost rinds and rottings, from the garbage peels, from the shadows' darkness, darkness, this guttered meal and all its redolence.

Related terms

• rottingness

Anagrams

• Gritton

Swedish

Etymology

From Dutch rotting, rotan, from Malay rotang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²r?t??/
• Rhymes: -?t??

Noun

rotting c

1. any of several species of climbing palm of the genus Calamus; rattan
2. (uncountable) the plant used as a material for making furniture, baskets etc.; rattan
3. (by extension) a cane made from this material; rattan

Declension

References

• rotting in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)