Etymologically
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decomposition

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /diːˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

The current word, the separation of something into its parts, is probably borrowed from French décomposition,[2][3][4] from décomposer (“to decompose”),[2][3] formed from dé- and composer (“to compose”);[5][2] the OED notes the French word in this sense in the Academy's dictionary of 1694, the probable source of the English use.[5] The OED and Etymonline also treat it as a noun of action from decompose in English,[5][6] which Etymonline forms from de- and composition,[6] and Klein too forms it from the privative prefix and that noun.[7] An earlier, obsolete sense, further compounding, belongs with decomposite and decompound, with the prefix in an intensive sense;[5][6][4] Johnson derived that word from Latin dēcompositus.[8] Merriam-Webster takes it as probably from that adjective, on the pattern of composite and its noun.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Further compounding, the compounding of things that are already composite: 1659, in O. Walker's Some Instructions Concerning the Art of Oratory;[5] this sense was obsolete by the end of the 17th century.[5][4] Johnson (1755) still defined the word as "the act of compounding things already compounded".[8]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, the separation of something into its chemical elements, or of light into its colours, appears in 1762.[5][6] The figurative use, of immaterial things, is recorded in the same year, in Walpole.[5] From 1777, in Priestley, it also meant the natural breaking up of compound bodies: organic decay and putrefaction,[5] the sense Etymonline dates for the verb decompose by 1777.[6]

Timeline

  • 1659 – further compounding of things already composite (obsolete by 1690).[5]
  • 1762 – separation of a substance into its elements, or of light into colours.[5][6]
  • 1762 – figurative, of immaterial things.[5]
  • 1777 – organic decay, putrefaction.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of decomposing, or the state of being decomposed.[2]
  2. The separation of a substance into its parts or elements, or into simpler compounds: the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen.[2][5]
  3. Organic decay; putrefaction: Cold slows the decomposition of the leaves.[2][5]
  4. Gradual breaking up; disintegration or dissolution, also figuratively.[2][5]
  5. (obsolete, 1659–1690) The compounding of things already composite.[5][2][4]

Word family

  • decompositional
  • photodecomposition
  • double decomposition

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.