Where does “decadent” come from?
Decadent comes from French décadent, from French décadence, from Medieval Latin decadentia, from Latin decadens, the present participle of decadere, meaning to fall away or decline.
decadent (English): Characterized by moral or cultural decline;...
Definitions
- Characterized by moral or cultural decline;...
Ancestry of “decadent”, step by step
decadent traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French décadent
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | décadent | decadent; declining |
| 2 | French | décadence | decadence |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | decadentia | decay |
| 4 | Latin | dēcadere | — |
| 5 | Latin | dēcīdō | to fall down or off; collapse; drop, hang down |
| 6 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 7 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 8 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 9 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |