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Synonyms

decease

American  
[dih-sees] / dɪˈsis /

noun

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


verb (used without object)

  • deceases,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • deceased,
    past participle,  past
  • deceasing
    present participle
  1. to depart from life; die.

decease British  
/ dɪˈsiːs /

noun

  1. a more formal word for death

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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; see cede) + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > s; (v.) late Middle English decesen, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Further testing for communicable deceases is being performed.”

From Time Oct. 29, 2015

His soul dwells in the outside of him, like that of a hollow tree, and if you do but peel the bark off him he deceases immediately.

From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various

Inasmuch as he carries the malignity and the lie with him he so far deceases from nature.

From Essays — First Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Consciousness is a production which results from the fermentation and elaboration of unconscious materials; and after a time it deceases, its conditions crumbling into their inorganic grounds again.

From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by William Rounseville Alger

Inasmuch as he carries the malignity and the lie with him, he so far deceases from nature.

From Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Edna Henry Lee Turpin

In 2025, a female humpback whale was observed off the southern Gold Coast with an escort whale after apparently giving birth to a deceased calf.

From Science Daily Sep. 22, 2026

"Four patients have been assessed. Three patients have been determined deceased on scene. One patient has been transported to a local hospital in unknown condition," a statement said.

From Barron's Sep. 16, 2026

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection and the Kingdom of Spain, which owns it, have fought the Cassirer family’s claims to the Pissarro painting since Claude Cassirer, now deceased, first sued for its return in 2005.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 16, 2026

Butler said meeting the families and loved ones of some of Watt's deceased patients had been an "unrivalled privilege".

From BBC Sep. 10, 2026

The visitation is also a good time for laughing and remembering funny stories about the deceased.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

But the report warns that perceptions of deceasing security of supply could potentially deter investment.

From BBC Nov. 26, 2014

He gaue vnto his sonne Simeon the prouinces of Vvlodimiria and Moscouia: which Simeon deceasing without issue his brother Iohn succeeded, who begate a son called Demetrius.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 03 by Richard Hakluyt

From Nicholas, is descended Carew of Haccumb, who by vertue of this entayle, succeeded also to Hughs portion, as deceasing issuelesse.

From The Survey of Cornwall And an epistle concerning the excellencies of the English tongue by Richard Carew

Husband, He be thy wife in heauen: let not thy pure deceasing spirite despise me when we meete, because I am tyrannously polluted.

From The Vnfortunate Traveller, or The Life Of Jack Wilton With An Essay On The Life And Writings Of Thomas Nash By Edmund Gosse by Edmund Gosse

Beyond a question; since Paul stateth, in his missive, that he saw much of this same ambassador, living greatly in his society, Eugenius deceasing as lately as 1477.

From Mercedes of Castile The Voyage to Cathay by J. Fenimore Cooper

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