Decocture noun A decoction. [ R.]

Decoherer noun [ Prefix de- + coherer .] (Electricity) A device for restoring a coherer to its normal condition after it has been affected by an electric wave, a process usually accomplished by some method of tapping or shaking, or by rotation of the coherer.

Decollate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decollated ; present participle & verbal noun Decollating .] [ Latin decollatus , past participle of decollare to behead; de- + collum neck.] To sever from the neck; to behead; to decapitate.

The decollated head of St. John the Baptist.

Burke.

Decollated adjective (Zoology) Decapitated; worn or cast off in the process of growth, as the apex of certain univalve shells.

Decollation noun [ Latin decollatio : confer French décollation .]
1. The act of beheading or state of one beheaded; -- especially used of the execution of St. John the Baptist.

2. A painting representing the beheading of a saint or martyr, esp. of St. John the Baptist.

Décolletage (dā`ko`l'*tȧzh) noun [ French See Décolleté .] (Costume) The upper border or part of a décolleté corsage.

Décolleté adjective [ French, past participle of décolleter to bare the neck and shoulders; dé- + collet collar, from Latin collum neck.] Leaving the neck and shoulders uncovered; cut low in the neck, or low-necked, as a dress.

Décolleté (da`kŏl`l e *ta") adjective Wearing a décolleté gown.

Decolling noun Beheading. [ R.]

By a speedy dethroning and decolling of the king.

Parliamentary History (1648).

Decolor transitive verb [ Confer French décolorer , Latin decolorare . Confer Discolor .] To deprive of color; to bleach.

Decolorant noun [ Confer French décolorant , present participle] A substance which removes color, or bleaches.

Decolorate adjective [ Latin decoloratus , past participle of decolorare .] Deprived of color.

Decolorate transitive verb To decolor.

Decoloration noun [ Latin decoloratio : confer French décoloration .] The removal or absence of color. Ferrand.

Decolorize transitive verb To deprive of color; to whiten. Turner. -- De*col`or*i*za"tion noun

Decomplex adjective [ Prefix de- (intens.) + complex .] Repeatedly compound; made up of complex constituents.

Decomposable adjective Capable of being resolved into constituent elements.

Decompose transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decomposed ; present participle & verbal noun Decomposing .] [ Confer French décomposer . Confer Discompose .] To separate the constituent parts of; to resolve into original elements; to set free from previously existing forms of chemical combination; to bring to dissolution; to rot or decay.

Decompose intransitive verb To become resolved or returned from existing combinations; to undergo dissolution; to decay; to rot.

Decomposed adjective (Zoology) Separated or broken up; -- said of the crest of birds when the feathers are divergent.

Decomposite adjective [ Prefix de- (intens.) + composite .]
1. Compounded more than once; compounded with things already composite.

2. (Botany) See Decompound , adjective , 2.

Decomposite noun Anything decompounded.

Decomposites of three metals or more.

Bacon.

Decomposition noun [ Prefix de- (in sense 3 intensive) + composition : confer French décomposition . Confer Decomposition .]
1. 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.

2. The state of being reduced into original elements.

3. Repeated composition; a combination of compounds. [ Obsolete]

Decomposition of forces . Same as Resolution of forces , under Resolution . -- Decomposition of light , the division of light into the prismatic colors.

Decompound transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decompounded ; present participle & verbal noun Decompounding .] [ Prefix de- (intens. in sense 1) + compound , transitive verb ]
1. To compound or mix with that is already compound; to compound a second time.

2. To reduce to constituent parts; to decompose.

It divides and decompounds objects into . . . parts.

Hazlitt.

Decompound adjective [ Prefix de- (intens.) + compound , adjective ]
1. Compound of what is already compounded; compounded a second time.

2. (Botany) Several times compounded or divided, as a leaf or stem; decomposite.

Decompound noun A decomposite.

Decompoundable adjective Capable of being decompounded.

Deconcentrate transitive verb To withdraw from concentration; to decentralize. [ R.]

Deconcentration noun Act of deconcentrating. [ R.]

Deconcoct transitive verb To decompose. [ R.] Fuller.

Deconsecrate transitive verb To deprive of sacredness; to secularize. -- De*con`se*cra"tion noun

Decorament noun [ Latin decoramentum . See Decorate , transitive verb ] Ornament. [ Obsolete] Bailey.

Decorate (dck"o*rāt) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decorated (dck"o*rā`tĕd); present participle & verbal noun Decorating (-rā`tĭng).] [ Latin decoratus , past participle of decorare , from decus ornament; akin to decere to be becoming. See Decent .] To deck with that which is becoming, ornamental, or honorary; to adorn; to beautify; to embellish; as, to decorate the person; to decorate an edifice; to decorate a lawn with flowers; to decorate the mind with moral beauties; to decorate a hero with honors.

Her fat neck was ornamented with jewels, rich bracelets decorated her arms.

Thackeray.

Syn. -- To adorn; embellish; ornament; beautify; grace. See Adorn .

Decorated style (Architecture) , a name given by some writers to the perfected English Gothic architecture; it may be considered as having flourished from about adjective d . 1300 to adjective d . 1375.

Decoration (dĕk`o*rā"shŭn) noun [ Late Latin decoratio : confer French décoration .]
1. The act of adorning, embellishing, or honoring; ornamentation.

2. That which adorns, enriches, or beautifies; something added by way of embellishment; ornament.

The hall was celebrated for . . . the richness of its decoration .

Motley.

3. Specifically, any mark of honor to be worn upon the person, as a medal, cross, or ribbon of an order of knighthood, bestowed for services in war, great achievements in literature, art, etc.

Decoration Day , a day, May 30, appointed for decorating with flowers the graves of the Union soldiers and sailors, who fell in the Civil War in the United States; Memorial Day. [ U.S.]

Decoration Day = Memorial Day . [ U. S.]

Decorative (dĕk"o*rȧ*tĭv or -ra*tĭv) adjective [ Confer French décoratif .] Suited to decorate or embellish; adorning. -- Dec"o*ra*tive*ness , noun

Decorative art , fine art which has for its end ornamentation, rather than the representation of objects or events.

Decorator (-rā"tẽr) noun [ Confer French décorateur .] One who decorates, adorns, or embellishes; specifically, an artisan whose business is the decoration of houses, esp. their interior decoration.

Decore transitive verb [ Confer French décorer . See Decorate .] To decorate; to beautify. [ Obsolete]

To decore and beautify the house of God.

E. Hall.

Decorement noun Ornament. [ Obsolete]

Decorous adjective [ Latin decōrus , from decor comeliness, beauty; akin to decere . See Decent , and confer Decorum .] Suitable to a character, or to the time, place, and occasion; marked with decorum; becoming; proper; seemly; befitting; as, a decorous speech; decorous behavior; a decorous dress for a judge.

A decorous pretext the war.

Motley.

-- De*co"rous*ly , adverb -- De*co"rous*ness , noun

Decorticate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decorticated ; present participle & verbal noun Decorticating .] [ Latin decorticatus , past participle of decorticare to bark; de- + cortex bark.] To divest of the bark, husk, or exterior coating; to husk; to peel; to hull. "Great barley dried and decorticated ." Arbuthnot.

Decortication noun [ Latin decorticatio : confer French décortication .] The act of stripping off the bark, rind, hull, or outer coat.

Decorticator noun A machine for decorticating wood, hulling grain, etc.; also, an instrument for removing surplus bark or moss from fruit trees.

Decorum noun [ Latin decōrum , from decōrus . See Decorous .] Propriety of manner or conduct; grace arising from suitableness of speech and behavior to one's own character, or to the place and occasion; decency of conduct; seemliness; that which is seemly or suitable.

Negligent of the duties and decorums of his station.

Hallam.

If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,
That majesty, to keep decorum , must
No less beg than a kingdom.

Shak.

Syn. -- Decorum , Dignity . Decorum , in accordance with its etymology, is that which is becoming in outward act or appearance; as, the decorum of a public assembly. Dignity springs from an inward elevation of soul producing a corresponding effect on the manners; as, dignity of personal appearance.

Decoy (de*koi") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decoyed ; present participle & verbal noun Decoying .] [ Prefix de- + coy ; orig., to quiet, soothe, caress, entice. See Coy .] To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to entrap; to insnare; to allure; to entice; as, to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net.

Did to a lonely cot his steps decoy .

Thomson.

E'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy ,
The heart, distrusting, asks if this be joy.

Goldsmith.

Syn. -- To entice; tempt; allure; lure. See Allure .

Decoy noun
1. Anything intended to lead into a snare; a lure that deceives and misleads into danger, or into the power of an enemy; a bait.

2. A fowl, or the likeness of one, used by sportsmen to entice other fowl into a net or within shot.

3. A place into which wild fowl, esp. ducks, are enticed in order to take or shoot them.

4. A person employed by officers of justice, or parties exposed to injury, to induce a suspected person to commit an offense under circumstances that will lead to his detection.

Decoy-duck noun A duck used to lure wild ducks into a decoy; hence, a person employed to lure others into danger. Beau. & Fl.

Decoy-man noun ; plural Decoy-men A man employed in decoying wild fowl.

Decoyer noun One who decoys another.