decedent

/dɪˈsidɪnt/

/dɪˈsidɪnt/

Other forms: decedents

A decedent is someone who has died. Decedents are deceased.

Every language has ways to avoid saying the dead guy, and English has two that come from the same root: deceased, a formal and impersonal way of designating one recently departed, and decedent, the version preferred when a lawyer is in the room. Both words are from Latin decedere, meaning "to die." Decedents include all dead people, no matter when they died. Someone who died an hour ago is a decedent as well as someone who died 300 years ago.

Definitions of decedent

1. noun

   someone who is no longer alive
   synonyms: dead person, dead soul, deceased, deceased person, departed

   examples:

   Lazarus

   the person who Jesus raised from the dead after four days in the tomb; this miracle caused the enemies of Jesus to begin the plan to put him to death

   types:

   infernal

   an inhabitant of Hell

   living dead, zombi, zombie

   a dead body that has been brought back to life by a supernatural force

   type of:

   individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul

   a human being