Meanings
plural deceases
- countableformaluncountableDeath, departure from life.
So should that beauty which you hold in lease Find no determination: then you were Yourself again after yourself's decease […]
1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 13”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC1 more example
I thought about my predecessor, who had died of drink and smoke; and I could have wished he had been so good as to live, and not bother me with his decease.
1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLCSynonyms: demise, quietus, death, end, tomb, celestial transfer, decomposition, defunction
present singular third person deceases · participle present deceasing · participle past deceased · past deceased
- archaicTo die.
After which usurped victorie, he presently deceased: and partly through the excessive joy he thereby conceived.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLCSynonyms: expire, perish, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more
- formaltransitiveTo cause to die.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDeath, departure from life.
verbTo die.
More synonyms by meaning
verbpass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindēcessus“departure”
- Old Frenchdeces
- Englishdecease
From Old French deces (Modern French décès), from Latin dēcessus (“departure”).
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رحل عن الحياة
- رحل عن الحياةdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Bengali মৃত্যু, ওফাত
- মৃত্যু (mrittu)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- ওফাত (ofat)departure, especially departure from this life; death
Bulgarian смърт, кончина
- смърт (smărt)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- кончина (končina)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- умирам (umiram)to die
Catalan defunció
- defunciódeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Chinese Mandarin 死亡, 死亡
- 死亡 (sǐwáng)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- 死亡 (sǐwáng)to die
- 去世 (qùshì)to die
Czech skon, smrt
- skondeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- smrtdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Danish bortgang, gå bort
- bortgangdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- gå bortto die
Dutch overlijden
- overlijdendeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Finnish kuolema, poismeno
- kuolemadeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- poismenodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
French décès, décéder
- décèsdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- décéderto die
- expirerto die
- mourirto die
- trépasserto die
German Ableben, Exitus
- Ablebendeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- Exitusdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- Hinschieddeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- ablebento die
- hinscheidento die
- dahinscheidento die
Italian decesso, morire
- decessodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- morireto die
Japanese 他界, 物故
- 他界 (takai)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- 物故 (bukko)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- 死去 (shikyo)departure, especially departure from this life; death
- 他界する (takai suru)to die
- 亡くなる (nakunaru)to die
- 死去する (shikyo suru)to die
Norwegian Bokmål død, bortgang
- døddeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- bortgangdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Portuguese falecimento, falecer
- falecimentodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- falecerto die
Spanish fallecimiento, deceso
- fallecimientodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- decesodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- óbitodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- defuncióndeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- fenecimientodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
- perecimientodeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Swedish bortgång
- bortgångdeparture, especially departure from this life; death
Vietnamese chết, mất
- chếtto die
- mấtto die
- qua đờito die
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with decease
Cite this entry
decease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decease
“decease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decease. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “decease,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decease.
Source: decease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.