decay

The story

1. Latin · derived fromdēcidere“to fall down, to fail, sink or perish”
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*dēcadere
3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromdecaeir“to fall away, decay, decline”
4. Middle English · inherited fromdecaien“to decrease, diminish”
5. English todaydecay

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.

Words from the same roots