Decorate, dek′o-rāt, v.t. to ornament, to beautify: to honour with a badge or medal.—adj. Dec′orated.—n. Decorā′tion, ornament: badge of an order.—adj. Dec′orātive, ornamental.—ns. Dec′orātiveness; Dec′orātor.—Decorated style (archit.), a style of Gothic architecture, elaborated and richly decorated, which prevailed till near the end of the 14th century.—Decoration Day, May 30th, when the memory of the soldiers who fell in the American Civil War of 1861-65 is honoured by the decoration of their graves, speeches, processions, &c. [L. decorāre, -ātum—decus, what is becoming—decēre, to be becoming.]
Decorous, de-kō′rus, or dek′o-rus, adj. becoming: suitable: proper: decent.—adv. Decō′rously.—ns. Decō′rousness; Decō′rum, that which is becoming in outward appearance: propriety of conduct: decency. [L. decorus, becoming.]
Decorticate, de-kor′ti-kāt, v.t. to deprive of the bark, husk, or peel.—n. Decorticā′tion. [L. decorticāre, -ātum—de, from, and cortex, bark.]
Decoy, de-koy′, v.t. to allure: to entrap: to lure into a trap.—n. anything intended to allure into a snare: an apparatus of hoops and network for trapping wild-ducks—sometimes duck-coy.—n. Decoy′-duck, a wild-duck tamed and trained to entice others into a trap: (fig.) one employed to allure others into a snare. [L. de, down, and O. Fr. coi, quiet; the earlier verb to coy was confused with the Dut. kooi—L. cavea, a cage. See Coy.]
Decrassify, dē-kras′i-fī, v.t. to make less crass.
Decrease, de-krēs′, v.i. to become less: to be diminished by degrees in size or power.—v.t. to make less: to lessen gradually.—n. a growing less: loss.—adv. Decreas′ingly. [O. Fr. decrois, a decrease—L. descrescĕre—de, from, crescĕre, to grow.]
Decree, de-krē′, n. an order by one in authority: an edict or law: a judicial decision: a predetermined purpose.—v.t. to decide or determine by sentence in law: to appoint.—v.i. to make a decree:—pr.p. decree′ing; pa.p. decreed′.—adjs. Decree′able, capable of being decreed; Decrē′tive, having the force of a decree; Dec′rētory, Decretō′rial, established by a decree: determining: judicial.—Decree nisi (L. nisi, unless), a decree that becomes absolute unless cause be shown to the contrary—granted esp. in divorce cases. [O. Fr. decret—L. decretum—decernĕre, to decide.]
Decreet, de-krēt′, n. (Scots law) a court judgment.
Decrement, dek′re-ment, n. the act or state of decreasing: the quantity lost by decrease. [L. decrementum.]
Decrepit, de-krep′it, adj. worn out by the infirmities of old age: in the last stage of decay.—ns. Decrep′itness; Decrep′itude, state of being decrepit or worn out with age. [L. decrepitus, noiseless, very old—de, not, crepitus, a noise.]