different between languish vs decay

English

Etymology

From Middle English languysshen, from the present participle stem of Anglo-Norman and Middle French languir, from Late Latin *languire, alteration of Latin langu?re (“to be faint, unwell”).

Compare languor and lax.

Cognate with slack.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?læ?.?w??/
• Rhymes: -æ??w??

Verb

languish (third-person singular simple present languishes, present participle languishing, simple past and past participle languished)

1. (intransitive) To lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or sickness. [from 14th c.]

   • We […] do languish of such diseases.

2. (intransitive) To pine away in longing for something; to have low spirits, especially from lovesickness. [from 14th c.]

   He languished without his girlfriend

3. (intransitive) To live in miserable or disheartening conditions. [from 15th c.]

   He languished in prison for years

4. (intransitive) To be neglected; to make little progress, be unsuccessful. [from 17th c.]

   The case languished for years before coming to trial.

5. (transitive, obsolete) To make weak; to weaken, devastate. [15th-17th c.]
6. (intransitive, now rare) To affect a languid air, especially disingenuously. [from 18th c.]

Related terms

• languid
• languor
• languorous

Translations

Anagrams

• haulings, haulsing, nilghaus

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