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y; decay; deterioration; declension. "The old castle, where the family lived in their decadence.' Sir W. Scott.

Decaying; deteriorating.

Removing; departing. Ash.

Having ten points or teeth.

A falling off. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

The shedding of teeth. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

An imperfect or half cadence, falling on the dominant instead of on the key note.

The act or state of depending; state of being dependent; a hanging down or from; suspension from a support.

State of being dependent; dependence; state of being subordinate; subordination; concatenation; connection; reliance; trust. Any long series of action, the parts of which have very much dependency each on the other. Sir J. Reynolds. So that they may acknowledge their dependency on the crown of England. Bacon.…

Hanging down; as, a dependent bough or leaf.

In a dependent manner.

falling; proceeding from an ancestor or source. More than mortal grace Speaks thee descendent of ethereal race. Pope.

Despondency. The people, when once infected, lose their relish for happiness [and] saunter about with looks of despondence. Goldsmith.

r dejection of the mind. The unhappy prince seemed, during some days, to be sunk in despondency. Macaulay.

Marked by despondence; given to despondence; low-spirited; as, a despondent manner; a despondent prisoner. -- De*spond"ent*ly, adv.

The state of being diffident; distrust; want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others. [Archaic] That affliction grew heavy upon me, and weighed me down even to a diffidence of God's mercy. Donne.

See Diffidence. [Obs.]

Wanting confidence in others; distrustful. [Archaic] You were always extremely diffident of their success. Melmoth.

In a diffident manner. To stand diffidently against each other with their thoughts in battle array. Hobbes.

A detachment or separation from a former connection. [R.]