DECOMPOSITION • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Decomposition

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/dˌikəmpoʊzˈɪʃən/ /dˌikəmpəzˈɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Decomposition n.

The act or process of resolving the constituent parts of a compound body or substance into its elementary parts; separation into constituent part; analysis; the decay or dissolution consequent on the removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.

The state of being reduced into original elements.

Repeated composition; a combination of compounds. (Obs.)

Decomposition of forces. Same as Resolution of forces, under Resolution.

Decomposition of light, the division of light into the prismatic colors.

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Etymology of 'Decomposition'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Decomposition" Quotes from Famous Books

... smell of decomposition began to come from the coffin, growing gradually more marked, and by three o'clock it was quite unmistakable. In all the past history of our monastery, no such scandal could be recalled, and in no other circumstances could ...

— The Brothers Karamazov • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... and hands. A remarkable effect of the Puna wind is its power of speedily drying animal bodies, and thereby preventing putridity. A dead mule is, in the course of a few days, converted into a mummy; not even the entrails presenting the least trace of decomposition. ...

— Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests • J. J. von Tschudi

... united in a certain substance, their strife must sooner or later bring about its decomposition, which is, of course, followed by putrefaction; in putrefaction, the impure is separated from the pure; and if the pure elements are then once more joined together by the action of natural heat, a much nobler and higher form of life is produced.... If the hidden central ...

— The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry • M. M. Pattison Muir

... coffin was presented for railway transport. The relatives of the deceased accompanied it. The dead man, they said, had desired to be buried across the frontier. The smell proclaimed the corpse to be in an advanced state of decomposition. The railway officials afforded every facility for the passage of so unpleasant an object. No one checked its progress. It was unapproachable. It was only when coffin and mourners were safe across the frontier that the police were informed that a ...

— The Story of the Malakand Field Force • Sir Winston S. Churchill

... men of the highest rank—men of science, men of letters, and men of trade—but women of fashion and blue-stockings, old and young, pressed into the theatre of the Institution to cover him with applause. His greatest labors were his discovery of the decomposition of the fixed alkalies, and the re-establishment of the simple nature of chlorine; his other researches were the investigation of astringent vegetables in connection with the art of tanning; the analysis of rocks and minerals in connection with geology; the ...

— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8 • Various

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