noun
- the act or process of falling into an inferior condition or state; deterioration; decay: Some historians hold that the fall of Rome can be attributed to internal decadence.
- moral degeneration or decay; turpitude.
- unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence.
- (often initial capital letter) the decadent movement in literature.
noun
- deterioration, esp of morality or culture; decay; degeneration
- the state reached through such a process
1540s, from Middle French décadence (early 15c.), from Medieval Latin decadentia “decay,” from decadentem (nominative decadens) “decaying,” present participle of decadere “to decay,” from Latin de- “apart, down” (see de-) + cadere “to fall” (see case (n.1)). Used of periods in art since 1852, on French model.