decomposition

Words, like the arms of a sparrow
Spread their wings for a span
From here and now till morrow
A dropping wherever it land

From the eyes of weeping mothers
Or the mind of an absent man
From the hearts of forgotten lovers
Bruised by a length of rattan

They feed the ears of receivers
And bury themselves in bran
But the beetle forever the reaper
Of the dung the mouth began

De*com`po*si"tion (?), n. [Pref. de- (in sense 3 intensive) + composition: cf. F. décomposition. Cf. Decomposition.]

1.

The act or process of resolving the constituent parts of a compound body or substance into its elementary parts; separation into constituent part; analysis; the decay or dissolution consequent on the removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.

2.

The state of being reduced into original elements.

3.

Repeated composition; a combination of compounds.

Decomposition of forces. Same as Resolution of forces, under Resolution. -- Decomposition of light, the division of light into the prismatic colors.

© Webster 1913.