Meanings
plural decompositions
- countableuncountableA biological process through which organic material is reduced to e.g. compost.
Before tearing up the property with machinery, the police conducted a screening at the site with specialised cadaver dogs. The dogs gave positive indications in specific areas of the property, indicating the scent of human decomposition.
2026 July 27, Nicholas Muhoro, “The Disappearance of Kayla Berg and the Condemned House Where Her Trail Ended”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2026 - countableuncountableThe act of taking something apart, e.g. for analysis.
Speech decomposition into a periodic and a non-periodic part is a subject of considerable importance with applications in speech synthesis, […]
2005, Gerard Chollet, Anna Esposito, Marcos Faundez-Zanuy, Nonlinear Speech Modeling and Applications
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance
noun(biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Englishde-
- Englishcomposition
- Englishdecomposition
From de- + composition.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian гниене, разлагане
- гниене (gniene)biological process
- разлагане (razlagane)biological process
- разглобяване (razglobjavane)act of taking something apart
- разлагане (razlagane)splitting into constituent parts
Catalan descomposició
- descomposicióbiological process
Chinese Cantonese 分解作用
- 分解作用 (fan¹ gaai² zok³ jung⁶)biological process
Chinese Mandarin 分解作用
- 分解作用 (fēnjiě zuòyòng)biological process
Danish nedbrydning, forrådnelse
- nedbrydningbiological process
- forrådnelsebiological process
- opløsningbiological process
- opløsningact of taking something apart
- opløsningsplitting into constituent parts
Dutch decompositie
- decompositiesplitting into constituent parts
Finnish hajoaminen, hajottaminen
- hajoaminenbiological process
- hajottaminenact of taking something apart
- erittelyact of taking something apart
- hajotelmasplitting into constituent parts
French décomposition, démontage
- décompositionbiological process
- démontageact of taking something apart
- décompositionsplitting into constituent parts
German Zersetzung, Abbau
- Zersetzungbiological process
- Abbaubiological process
- Verwesungbiological process
- Zerlegungact of taking something apart
- Zerlegungsplitting into constituent parts
Greek αποσύνθεση, διάλυση
- αποσύνθεση (aposýnthesi)biological process
- διάλυση (diálysi)act of taking something apart
- διάσπαση (diáspasi)splitting into constituent parts
Hindi अपघटन, विघटन
- अपघटन (apaghṭan)biological process
- विघटन (vighṭan)act of taking something apart
- विखंडन (vikhaṇḍan)act of taking something apart
- विघटन (vighṭan)splitting into constituent parts
- विखंडन (vikhaṇḍan)splitting into constituent parts
Indonesian dekomposisi, penguraian
- dekomposisibiological process
- penguraianbiological process
- dekomposisiact of taking something apart
Italian decomposizione
- decomposizionebiological process
Japanese 分解, 分解
- 分解 (bunkai)biological process
- 分解 (bunkai)act of taking something apart
- 分解 (bunkai)splitting into constituent parts
Malay pereputan, leraian
- pereputanbiological process
- leraianact of taking something apart
Māori wāwāhinga
- wāwāhingaact of taking something apart
Norwegian Bokmål nedbrytning, nedbryting
- nedbrytningbiological process
- nedbrytingbiological process
Polish rozpad, rozkład
- rozpadbiological process
- rozkładbiological process
- gniciebiological process
Portuguese decomposição, decomposição
- decomposiçãobiological process
- decomposiçãoact of taking something apart
- decomposiçãosplitting into constituent parts
Romanian descompunere, decompoziție
- descompunerebiological process
- decompozițiebiological process
- demontareact of taking something apart
- descompunereact of taking something apart
- descompuneresplitting into constituent parts
- dezasamblaresplitting into constituent parts
Russian разложе́ние, гние́ние
- разложе́ние (razložénije)biological process
- гние́ние (gnijénije)biological process
- распа́д (raspád)biological process
- разложе́ние (razložénije)act of taking something apart
- расчлене́ние (rasčlenénije)act of taking something apart
- разбие́ние (razbijénije)act of taking something apart
- разложе́ние (razložénije)splitting into constituent parts
- декомпози́ция (dekompozícija)splitting into constituent parts
Spanish descomposición, descomposición
- descomposiciónbiological process
- descomposiciónsplitting into constituent parts
Swedish nedbrytning
- nedbrytningbiological process
Tagalog agnas
- agnasbiological process
Turkish ayrışma, çürüme
- ayrışmabiological process
- çürümebiological process
Cite this entry
decomposition. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decomposition
“decomposition.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decomposition. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “decomposition,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decomposition.
Source: decomposition on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.