Definition: Decadence

From New World Encyclopedia

Etymology

From French décadence, from Medieval Latin decadentia (decay), from *decadens (decaying), present participle of *decadere (to decay).

Noun

decadence (countable and uncountable, plural decadences)

  1. A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay.
  2. The quality of being luxuriously self-indulgent.
    I was enjoying the decadence of the New Yorker Hotel during the night of the Manhattan performance.

Related terms

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here: