Dictionary

decomposition en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /diːˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃən/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- English composition English decomposition From de- + composition.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A 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:
2. (countable, uncountable) The 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:
3. (countable, uncountable) The splitting (of e.g. a matrix, an atom, or a compound) into constituent parts.

Forms

Deriveds

predecomposition · branch-decomposition · eigen decomposition · Białynicki-Birula decomposition · decomposition potential · autodecomposition · Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition · QR decomposition · nanodecomposition · Schur decomposition · photodecomposition · chemical decomposition · square root decomposition · eigendecomposition · open book decomposition · tree decomposition · singular value decomposition · nano-decomposition · prime decomposition · double decomposition · Hodge decomposition · thermodecomposition · matrix decomposition · Heegaard decomposition · nondecomposition · decompositional

Relateds

decompose

Translations (81)

hi अपघटन (biological process) · ht dekonpozisyon (splitting into constituent parts) · ka ხრწნა (biological process) · ru разложе́ние (biological process) · de Verwesung (biological process) · de Abbau (biological process) · id dekomposisi (biological process) · pt decomposição (biological process) · pl rozkład (biological process) · es descomposición (splitting into constituent parts) · da nedbrydning (biological process) · bg разглобяване (act of taking something apart) · mr विघटन (biological process) · bg гниене (biological process) · ht dekonpozisyon (biological process) · el διάλυση (act of taking something apart) · fi hajotelma (splitting into constituent parts) · bg разлагане (biological process) · ms pereputan (biological process) · ru расчлене́ние (act of taking something apart) · nb nedbrytning (biological process) · nn nedbryting (biological process) · fr décomposition (splitting into constituent parts) · gl descomposición (biological process) · ro decompoziție (biological process) · el αποσύνθεση (biological process) · ro descompunere (splitting into constituent parts) · hi विखंडन (splitting into constituent parts) · de Zerlegung (splitting into constituent parts) · ka გახრწნა (biological process) · da opløsning (act of taking something apart) · el διάσπαση (splitting into constituent parts) · ca descomposició (biological process) · sh raspad (biological process) · bg разлагане (splitting into constituent parts) · hi विघटन (splitting into constituent parts) · sv nedbrytning (biological process) · fi hajoaminen (biological process) · ru декомпози́ция (splitting into constituent parts) · pl gnicie (biological process) · id penguraian (biological process) · nb nedbryting (biological process) · ms leraian (act of taking something apart) · hi विघटन (act of taking something apart) · id dekomposisi (act of taking something apart) · fi erittely (act of taking something apart) · fr décomposition (biological process) · pl rozpad (biological process) · ka ლპობა (biological process) · tl agnas (biological process) · da opløsning (biological process) · tr ayrışma (biological process) · nl decompositie (splitting into constituent parts) · ru гние́ние (biological process) · ja 分解 (biological process) · ro descompunere (act of taking something apart) · pt decomposição (splitting into constituent parts) · de Zerlegung (act of taking something apart) · cmn 分解作用 (biological process) · ru распа́д (biological process) · mi wāwāhinga (act of taking something apart) · pt decomposição (act of taking something apart) · fi hajottaminen (act of taking something apart) · fr démontage (act of taking something apart) · mr अपघटन (biological process) · es descomposición (biological process) · ro descompunere (biological process) · yue 分解作用 (biological process) · de Zersetzung (biological process) · ja 分解 (splitting into constituent parts) · ru разложе́ние (splitting into constituent parts) · da opløsning (splitting into constituent parts) · ro dezasamblare (splitting into constituent parts) · ja 分解 (act of taking something apart) · ru разбие́ние (act of taking something apart) · it decomposizione (biological process) · da forrådnelse (biological process) · hi विखंडन (act of taking something apart) · tr çürüme (biological process) · ro demontare (act of taking something apart) · ru разложе́ние (act of taking something apart)