decay

[dɪˈkeɪ]

/[dɪˈkeɪ]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“decay” is uncommon German (frequency #80,238 among 2,764 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,238
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Abnahme, Verfall, Zersetzung

Corpus desk

Index DE-decay · decay · German

decay · rank #80,238 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,238
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH Debütanten

Nearest frequency peer: Debütanten (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „decay“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „decay“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for decay
PropertyValue
Headworddecay
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[dɪˈkeɪ]
Letters5
Frequency rank#80,238
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „decay“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).decayfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Debütanten“ (#80,237), „dargelegten“ (#80,234), „Dammes“ (#80,233). Unter 2,764 „D“-Lemmata liegt „decay“ bei #80,238. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

decay is uncommon German at frequency #80,238 among 2,764 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [dɪˈkeɪ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for decay in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is decay, spelled D-E-C-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abnahme, Verfall, Zersetzung
  2. 2
    Niedergang, Verfall

Synonyms

caducitydecadencedeclensiondeclinedecompositiondecrepitudedegeneracydegenerationdeteriorationdilapidationdisintegrationfadingfailingperishingputrefactionruinwastingwithering

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "decay"?
"decay" is spelled D-E-C-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [dɪˈkeɪ].
What does "decay" mean?
As a noun, "decay" means: Abnahme, Verfall, Zersetzung
How do you pronounce "decay"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "decay" is [dɪˈkeɪ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "decay" come from?
"decay" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "decay", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coman#80,216ehret#80,275Elter#80,296Borke#80,178

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list