Rot vs Decay - What's the difference?

Decay is a synonym of rot.

In intransitive terms the difference between rot and decay

is that rot is to deteriorate in any way while decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.

In transitive terms the difference between rot and decay

is that rot is to expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret while decay is to cause to rot or deteriorate.

rot

English

Verb

(rott)

To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.

* Alexander Pope

Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, / To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot .

To decline in function or utility.

To deteriorate in any way.

I hope they all rot in prison for what they've done.

* Macaulay

Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.

* Thackeray

Rot , poor bachelor, in your club.

To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.

to rot vegetable fiber

To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.

Derived terms

* potter's rot

Noun

(en noun)

The process of becoming rotten; putrefaction.

Any of several diseases in which breakdown of tissue occurs.

* Milton

His cattle must of rot and murrain die.

Verbal nonsense.

Synonyms

* (nonsense) See also

Anagrams

* (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l) English intransitive verbs ----

decay

English

(wikipedia decay)

Noun

The process or result of being gradually decomposed.

* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

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.

A deterioration of condition.

Derived terms

* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decay

Verb

(en verb)

To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.

The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.

# (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).

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 .

(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.

The cat's body decayed rapidly.

(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:

Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.

(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.

The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.

* Shakespeare

Infirmity, that decays the wise.

External links

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