dē-cēdo, cessi, cessum, 3 (
* Inf. sync. decesse, Ter. Heaut. prol. 32; Cic. Fam. 7, 1, 2; Neue Formenl. 2, 536. The part. perf. decessus perh. only Rutil. Nam. 1, 313), v. n., to go away, depart, withdraw. (For syn. cf.: linquo, relinquo, desero, destituo, deficio, discedo, excedo. Often opp. to accedo, maneo; freq. and class.)—Constr. absol. with de, ex, or merely the abl.; rarely with ab.
* Lit.
* In gen.: decedamus,Plaut. Bac. 1, 1, 74: de altera parte (agri) decedere,Caes. B. G. 1, 31, 10: decedit ex Gallia Romam Naevius,Cic. Quint. 4, 16: e pastu,Verg. G. 1, 381; cf.: e pastu decedere campis,id. ib. 4, 186: ex aequore domum,id. ib. 2, 205; Italiā,Sall. J. 28, 2: Numidiā,id. ib. 38, 9: Africā,id. ib. 20, 1; 23, 1: pugnā,Liv. 34, 47: praesidio,id. 4, 29 (cf.: de praesidio,Cic. de Sen. 20, 73): quae naves paullulum suo cursu decesserint,i. e. had gone out of their course,Caes. B. C. 3, 112, 3; so, cum luminibus exstinctis decessisset viā,had gone out of the way,Suet. Caes. 31: pantherae constituisse dicuntur in Cariam ex nostra provincia decedere,Cic. Fam. 2, 11, 2.
* Trop.
* T. t.
* For the simple verb (v. cedo, no. I. 2), to go off, turn out, result in any manner: prospere decedentibus rebus,Suet. Caes. 24.
* Decedere de viā; also viā, in viā alicui, alicui, or absol., to get out of the way, to give place, make way for one (as a mark of respect or of abhorrence): concedite atque abscedite omnes: de via decedite,Plaut. Am. 3, 4, 1; cf.: decedam ego illi de via, de semita,id. Trin. 2, 4, 80 (Cic. Clu. 59. 163; cf. II. B infra); cf.: qui fecit servo currenti in viā decesse populum,Ter. Heaut. prol. 32: censorem L. Plancum via sibi decedere aedilis coegit,Suet. Ner. 4; cf. id. Tib. 31: sanctis divis, Catul. 62, 268: nocti,Verg. Ec. 8, 88: peritis,Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 216 (cf.: cedere nocti,Liv. 3, 60, 7).—Also, to get out of the way of, avoid: decedere canibus de via,Cic. Rep. 1, 43, 67; cf.: hi numero impiorum habentur, his omnes decedunt, aditum defugiunt, etc.,Caes. B. G. 6, 13, 7.—By zeugma, in the pass.: salutari, appeti, decedi, assurgi, deduci, reduci, etc.,Cic. de Sen. 18, 63.
* Pregn., to depart, disappear (cf.: cedo, concedo).
* Of living beings, to decease, to die: si eos, qui jam de vita decesserunt,Cic. Rab. Perd. 11: vitā,Dig. 7, 1, 57, § 1; Vulg. 2 Mac. 6, 31; but commonly absol.: pater nobis decessit a. d. VIII. Kal. Dec.,id. Att. 1, 6: cum paterfamiliae decessit,Caes. B. G. 6, 19, 3; Nep. Arist. 3, 2, and 3; id. Cim. 1; id. Ages. 8, 6; Liv. 1, 34; 9, 17; Quint. 3, 6, 96 et saep.: cruditate contracta,id. 7, 3, 33: morbo aquae intercutis,Suet. Ner. 5 fin.: paralysi,id. Vit. 3: ex ingratorum hominum conspectu morte decedere,Nep. Timol. 1, 6.
* Of inanimate things, to depart, go off; to abate, subside, cease: corpore febres,Lucr. 2, 34: febres,Nep. Att. 22, 3; Cels. 3, 3; cf.: quartana,Cic. Att. 7, 2 (opp. accedere): decessisse inde aquam,run off, fallen,Liv. 30, 38 fin.; cf.: decedere aestum,id. 26, 45; 9, 26 al.: de summa nihil decedet,to be wanting, to fail,Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 30; Cic. Clu. 60, 167; cf.: quicquid libertati plebis caveretur, id suis decedere opibus credebant,Liv. 3, 55: decedet jam ira haec, etsi merito iratus est,Ter. Hec. 3, 5, 55 (for which ib. 5, 2, 15: cito ab eo haec ira abscedet): postquam invidia decesserat,Sall. J. 88, 1; Liv. 33, 31 fin.; Tac. A. 15, 16 al.: priusquam ea cura decederet patribus,Liv. 9, 29; so with dat., id. 2, 31; 23, 26; Tac. A. 15, 20; 44.—Poet.: incipit et longo Scyros decedere ponto,i. e. seems to flee before them,Stat. Ach. 2, 308.—In the Aug. poets sometimes of the heavenly bodies, to go down, set: et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras,Verg. E. 2, 67; so id. G. 1, 222; Ov. M. 4, 91; hence also of the day, to depart: te veniente die, te decedente canebat,Verg. G. 4, 466; also of the moon,to wane,Gell. 20, 8, 7.
* De possessione, jure, sententia, fide, etc. (and since the Aug. per. with abl. alone; the reading ex jure suo,Liv. 3, 33, 10, is very doubtful), to depart from; to give up, resign, forego; to yield, to swerve from one's possession, station, duty, right, opinion, faith, etc.
* With de: cogere aliquem de suis bonis decedere,Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 17 fin.; cf.: de hypothecis,id. Fam. 13, 56, 2; and de possessione,id. Agr. 2, 26; de suo jure,id. Rosc. Am. 27; id. Att. 16, 2: qui de civitate decedere quam de sententia maluit,id. Balb. 5: de officio ac dignitate,Cic. Verr. 1, 10: de foro decedere,to retire from public life,Nep. Att. 10, 2: de scena,to retire from the stage,Cic. Fam. 7, 1, 2; cf. impers.: de officio decessum,Liv. 8, 25 fin.
* De via, to depart, deviate from the right way: se nulla cupiditate inductum de via decessisse,Cic. Cael. 16, 38: moleste ferre se de via decessisse,id. Clu. 59, 163; so, viā dicendi,Quint. 4, 5, 3.
* (acc. to no. I. B. 2) To give way, yield to another (i. e. to his will or superior advantages—very rare): vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis,Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 213: ubi non Hymetto Mella decedunt,are not inferior,id. Od. 2, 6, 15.
* (poet.) To avoid, shun, escape from (cf. I. B. 2 supra): nec serae meminit decedere nocti, to avoid the late night, i. e. the coldness of night, Varius ap. Macr. S. 6, 2, 20; Verg. Ecl. 8, 88; id. G. 3, 467: calori,id. ib. 4, 23.
* To fall short of, degenerate from: de generis nobilitate,Pall. 3, 25, 2: a rebus gestis ejus et gloriae splendore, Justin. 6, 3, 8.

s. TLL