decadence

/ˈdekədəns/DEH-kuh-duhns

/ˈdɛkədəns/DEH-kuh-duhns

Meaninga falling away

Common meaning: moral or artistic decline

dedown, away, off; undoing
cadto fallLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 258 (approximate) · scan
encenoun ending: doing, or the condition that results

‘down, away, off’ + ‘to fall’ → decadence

Journey through time

Latincadō, cecidī, cāsum‘to fall’
Frenchdecaer
Englishdecadence‘moral or artistic decline’ · today

de- also in: deter decamp decide deduce defame

cad also in: case casual accident casualty coincide

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin cadō ‘to fall’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry cadō, p. 258 · dictionary scan

Roots

cadō, cecidī, cāsum Latin “to fall”

Related words

accident case casual casualty coincide decay deciduous incident occasion

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