Synonyms

decease

American

[dih-sees] / dɪˈsis /

noun

the act of dying; departure from life; death.

verb (used without object)

to depart from life; die.

decease British

/ dɪˈsiːs /

noun

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

(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.

Decease is the passage of Being into not-being.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by Stace, W. T. (Walter Terence)

Moreover, he left a specific Legacy of 30,000 Pieces of Gold to that Son, who should, after his Decease, be prov’d to love him best.

From Zadig Or, The Book of Fate by Voltaire

Again, in the Book of the Great Decease, we learn that Buddha admonished his disciples to "dwell as lamps unto yourselves."

From Cosmic Consciousness by McIvor-Tyndall, Alexander J. (Alexander James)

Since that Nobleman's Decease, which was in April 1732, his Widow has always liv'd at Dresden; where she enjoys the Esteem of their Majesties, and the Veneration of the Courtiers.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

This was the Burial of a certain great nobleman, a Duke and Marshal of France, and at the time of his Decease Governor of the City of Paris.

From The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by Sala, George Augustus

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023