Decay vs Evolution - What's the difference?
decay | evolution |
The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
A deterioration of condition.
To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
# (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo , that is, gradual degradation.
# (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo , that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment,so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
# (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).
(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
(intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
* 2005 , Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ISBN 0-8160-4973-4), page 349:
(intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo , that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
(aviation)
To cause to rot or deteriorate.
* Shakespeare
The process of accumulating change.
A progression of change, often branching and diversifying in the process.
(general) Gradual directional change especially one leading to a more advanced or complex form; growth; development.
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=4 * 1976 , (Richard Dawkins), (The Selfish Gene) :
* 2005 , (Eckhart Tolle), (A New Earth) :
(biology) The change in the genetic composition of a population over successive generations.
* 1976 , (Richard Dawkins), (The Selfish Gene) :
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= (chemistry) The act or an instance of giving off gas; emission.
(mathematics) The extraction of a root from a quantity.
(military) One of a series of ordered movements.
(dance, sports) A turning movement of the body.
* 1869 , Anon., Miss Langley's Will :
* 1825 , Theodore Edward Hook, Sayings and Doings: Passion and principle :
* 1863 , Knightley Willia Horlock, The master of the hounds :
* 1869 , William Clarke, The boy's own book :
As nouns the difference between decay and evolution
is that decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed while evolution is evolution.As a verb decay
is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.decay
English
(wikipedia decay)Noun
- I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay , this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.
Derived terms
* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decayVerb
(en verb)- The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
- 2009 , Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen, Space Law: A Treatise , page 120:
- Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed .
- The cat's body decayed rapidly.
- Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
- The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
- Infirmity, that decays the wise.
External links
* *evolution
Noun
(en noun)citation, passage=By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.}}
- There are some examples of cultural evolution' in birds and monkeys, but it is our own species that really shows what cultural ' evolution can do.
- Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.
- [Some books have] made the erroneous assumption that the important thing in evolution is the good of the species (or the group) rather than the good of the individual (or the gene).
Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.}}
- It was a critical instant: the pirouette -- it would fail, she feared. … the rapid whirl achieved in exact time, the whole evolution executed to perfection.
- … as he beheld the tenfold pirouette of a lovely girl, which presented to the public eye the whole of her form and figure; … to praise the dexterity and ease with which the unfortunate and degraded creature had performed the ungraceful evolution , the only merit of which, is the gross exposition of person, at which modesty shudders […]
- "Look now, that pirouette -- my stars! how Beauchamp would stare to see his darling perform such an evolution !"
- By this operation each foot will describe an arc or segment of a circle. … This evolution is performed sometimes on one foot, sometimes on the other …