decorum

decorum

See also: décorum and decòrum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin decōrum, neuter form of decōrus (“proper, decent”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈkɔːɹəm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəm
• Hyphenation: de‧co‧rum

Noun

decorum (countable and uncountable, plural decorums)

1. (uncountable) Appropriate social behavior.

   Synonyms: decency, courtesy, propriety, etiquette

   • 2010, Pseudonymous Bosch (pseudonym; Raphael Simon), This Isn't What It Looks Like, ch. 4

     It was sort of a finishing school. You know, to teach proper social decorum and so on and so forth.

   • 2020 September 29, Jonathan Martin; Alexander Burns, “With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden”, in New York Times‎:

     Mr. Trump’s volcanic performance appeared to be the gambit of a president seeking to tarnish his opponent by any means available, unbounded by norms of accuracy and decorum and unguided by a calculated sense of how to sway the electorate or assuage voters’ reservations about his leadership.

2. (countable) A convention of social behavior.

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *deḱ-‎ (1 c, 14 e)

Translations

appropriate social behavior; propriety

Bulgarian: благоприличие (bg) n (blagopriličie) Catalan: decòrum (ca) m, decor (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 體統／体统 (zh) (tǐtǒng), 端正 (zh) (duānzhèng) Finnish: hyvä käytös, säädyllisyys (fi), käytöstavat French: décorum (fr) m Galician: decoro (gl) m Georgian: დეკორუმი (deḳorumi), ეტიკეტი (eṭiḳeṭi), წესიერება (c̣esiereba), ღირსეულობა (ɣirseuloba), ზრდილობა (zrdiloba), ზრდილობის წესები (zrdilobis c̣esebi) German: Anstand (de) m, Etikette (de) f, Schicklichkeit (de) f, Anständigkeit (de) f, guter Ton m, Dekorum (de) n Greek: Ancient: εὐσχημοσύνη f (euskhēmosúnē) Hungarian: illem (hu), illendőség (hu), tisztesség (hu) Italian: decoro (it) m Japanese: 礼儀 (ja) (れいぎ, reigi)), 端正さ (ja) (たんせいさ, tansei-sa), 礼儀正しさ (ja) (れいぎただしさ, reigi tadashisa) Latin: decōrum n Manx: beasaght f Polish: decorum (pl) n, dekorum n Portuguese: decoro (pt) m Punjabi: ਤਮੀਜ਼ f (tamīz) Romanian: cuviință (ro), cădere (ro), decență (ro) Russian: благопристо́йность (ru) f (blagopristójnostʹ), деко́рум (ru) m (dɛkórum) (literary), прили́чие (ru) n (prilíčije), благоприли́чие (ru) n (blagoprilíčije) Spanish: decoro (es) m, pundonor (es) m

a convention of social behavior

Bulgarian: етикет (bg) m (etiket) Chinese: Mandarin: 禮儀／礼仪 (zh) (lǐyí) Finnish: etiketti (fi) German: Anstandsregel (de) f, Anstandsregeln (de) pl, Konventionen (de) pl, Konvention (de) f, Benimmregel f Hungarian: illemszabály, szokás (hu), konvenció (hu) Japanese: 礼儀作法 (れいぎさほう, reigi sahō), 礼儀 (ja) (れいぎ, reigi) Russian: этике́т (ru) m (etikét), пра́вила поведе́ния n pl (právila povedénija)

Anagrams

• Cudmore

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deˈkoː.rum/, [d̪ɛˈkoːrʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈko.rum/, [d̪eˈkɔːrum]

Etymology 1

Noun use of the neuter form of decōrus (“becoming, fitting, proper”).

Noun

decōrum n (genitive decōrī); second declension

1. seemliness, propriety

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	decōrum	decōra
Genitive	decōrī	decōrōrum
Dative	decōrō	decōrīs
Accusative	decōrum	decōra
Ablative	decōrō	decōrīs
Vocative	decōrum	decōra

Descendants

• → Catalan: decor, decòrum
• → English: decorum
• → French: décorum
• → Galician: decoro
• → Italian: decoro
• → Occitan: decòr
• → Piedmontese: decòr
• → Portuguese: decoro
• → Spanish: decoro

References

• “decorum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• decorum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

decōrum

1. inflection of decōrus:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular

Noun

decōrum

1. genitive plural of decor

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Polish

Alternative forms

• dekorum

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin decōrum. Doublet of dekoracja and dekorować.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛˈkɔ.rum/
• Rhymes: -ɔrum
• Syllabification: do‧co‧rum

Noun

decorum n

1. (literature) decorum (principle of classical rhetoric, poetry, and theatrical theory concerning the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject)
2. (anthropology) decorum (appropriate social behavior; propriety)

Declension

Declension of decorum

	singular	plural
nominative	decorum	decora
genitive	decorum	decorów
dative	decorum	decorom
accusative	decorum	decora
instrumental	decorum	decorami
locative	decorum	decorach
vocative	decorum	decora

Further reading

• decorum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• decorum in Polish dictionaries at PWN