decease

American  

[dih-sees] / dɪˈsis /

noun

1. the act of dying; departure from life; death.

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verb (used without object)

deceased, deceasing

1. to depart from life; die.

decease British  

/ dɪˈsiːs /

noun

1. a more formal word for death

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verb

1. (intr) a more formal word for die 1

Etymology

Origin of decease

1300–50; (noun) Middle English deces < Old French < Latin dēcessus departure, death, equivalent to dēced-, variant stem of dēcēdere to go away ( dē- de- + cēdere to go; cede ) + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > s; (v.) late Middle English decesen, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

In the capillaries and veins, the blood pressure continues to decease but velocity increases.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Yet here I hardly know whether I should divulge one little item of rumor, which came to my ear a few months after the scrivener’s decease.

From Slate • Oct. 22, 2015

No, we don't mean Margaret Thatcher, though her decease prompted ruminations about her cinematic era and the effect it's had since.

From The Guardian • Apr. 11, 2013

I advance personally, solely to you ... decease calls me forth.”

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2013

I did not ask what she meant by “all being over,” but I suppose she referred to the expected decease of her mother and the gloomy sequel of funeral rites.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë