Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to decay
Participle: decayed
Gerund: decaying
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | decay |
| you | decay |
| he;she;it | decays |
| we | decay |
| you | decay |
| they | decay |
Perfect
| I | have decayed |
| you | have decayed |
| he;she;it | has decayed |
| we | have decayed |
| you | have decayed |
| they | have decayed |
Past
| I | decayed |
| you | decayed |
| he;she;it | decayed |
| we | decayed |
| you | decayed |
| they | decayed |
Pluperfect
| I | had decayed |
| you | had decayed |
| he;she;it | had decayed |
| we | had decayed |
| you | had decayed |
| they | had decayed |
Future
| I | will decay |
| you | will decay |
| he;she;it | will decay |
| we | will decay |
| you | will decay |
| they | will decay |
Future Perfect
| I | will have decayed |
| you | will have decayed |
| he;she;it | will have decayed |
| we | will have decayed |
| you | will have decayed |
| they | will have decayed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | decay |
| you | decay |
| he;she;it | decay |
| we | decay |
| you | decay |
| they | decay |
Perfect
| I | have decayed |
| you | have decayed |
| he;she;it | have decayed |
| we | have decayed |
| you | have decayed |
| they | have decayed |
Imperfect
| I | decayed |
| you | decayed |
| he;she;it | decayed |
| we | decayed |
| you | decayed |
| they | decayed |
Pluperfect
| I | had decayed |
| you | had decayed |
| he;she;it | had decayed |
| we | had decayed |
| you | had decayed |
| they | had decayed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would decay |
| you | would decay |
| he;she;it | would decay |
| we | would decay |
| you | would decay |
| they | would decay |
Perfect
| I | would have decayed |
| you | would have decayed |
| he;she;it | would have decayed |
| we | would have decayed |
| you | would have decayed |
| they | would have decayed |
Imperative
| you | decay |
| we | Let's decay |
| you | decay |
Verbs conjugated like 'decay'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'decay'
decal,
decan,
decar,
decoy,
decry,
delay,
denay,
deray,
bebay,
becry,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- dwindle
- die, decline, degenerate, fade, deteriorate, fall, perish
- decompose
- spoil, disintegrate, blight, putrefy, molder, rot, wither, mold
Antonyms
- dwindle
- increase, multiply, expand, develop
- decompose
- multiply, grow, increase, improve
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1460, from O.Fr.
decair, from V.L.
*decadere "to fall off," from L.
cadere "to fall" (see case (1)). Meaning "gradual decrease in radioactivity" is from 1897.
2. From Middle English decaien (“to decrease, diminish”) and decai (“deterioration, decline in value”), from Anglo-Norman decaeir (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Vulgar Latin *dēcadere, etymologically restored form of Latin dēcidere (“to fall down, to fail, sink or perish”), from de- (“of, from, away, down”) + cadere (“to fall”). Compare decadent and decadence. See: Latin '
dēcidō'.
Verbs referencing "decay"
French
déchoir.
Sample Sentences
-
Marie St. Clare had taken no notice of the child's gradually decaying health and strength, because she was completely absorbed in studying out two or three new forms of disease to which she believed she herself was a victim. It was the first principle of Marie's [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] that felt the same certainty, and that was the little heart of Eva. What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short ? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on ? Be it what it may, it rested in the heart of Eva, a calm, sweet, prophetic certainty that Heaven was near; calm as the light of [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
Tom waited till a late hour, to get a place at the mills; and then, moved by the utter weariness of two women, whom he saw trying to grind their corn there, he ground for them, put together the decaying brands of the fire, where many had baked cakes before them, and then went about getting his own supper. It was a new kind of work there,—a deed of charity, small as it was; but it woke an answering [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
One evening, he was sitting, in utter dejection and prostration, by a few decaying brands, where his coarse supper was baking. He put a few bits of brushwood on the fire, and strove to raise the light, and then drew his worn Bible from his pocket. There were all the marked [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)