decadence

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱad-“to fall”
2. Latin · derived from*decadens“decaying”
3. Medieval Latin · derived fromdecadentia“act of decaying, decay”
4. English todaydecadence

Unadapted borrowing from French décadence, from Medieval Latin decadentia (“act of decaying, decay”), from Latin *decadens (“decaying”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). *Decadens is the present participle of *decadere, from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down; from, of’) + cadere (the present active infinitive of cadō (“to fall, fall out; to decay; etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad- (“to fall”), possibly related to *ḱeh₂d- (“anger; hatred”)).

Words from the same roots