Word.ws English Dictionary

decanate

decanate noun: face, one of three parts into which each zodiac sign is divided; a decan.

Noun (1)

decanate (plural decanates)

  1. Face, one of three parts into which each zodiac sign is divided; a decan.
    • If any planet be in his decanate, or face, he has the least possible essential dignity1852, William Lilly, An Introduction to Astrology, page 70
    • Each 30° sign is divided into three 10° sections called decanates (figure 11 and chart 5).2007, Kris Brandt Riske, Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Astrology, page 31

Noun (2)

decanate (plural decanates)

  1. (Anglicanism) A group of parishes over which a dean presides; a deanery.
    • These parishes are divided into 80 decanates or chapters. In each decanate there are from ten to eighteen parishes. At the head of each decanate stands the dean,1844, Rev. F.C. Ewald, “Bavaria”, in The Missionary Chronicle, page 18

Forms of decanate

pluraldecanates

Origin of decanate

Of decan + -ate. Attested from the 17th century.

From Medieval Latin decānātus, from Latin decānus. Equivalent to Latin decānus + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the concrete charge of it). Compare dean.

Questions about decanate

What does decanate mean?
Decanate means face, one of three parts into which each zodiac sign is divided; a decan.
What part of speech is decanate?
Decanate is a noun.
What is the plural of decanate?
The plural of decanate is decanates.

Words near decanate in the dictionary

  1. decanalization
  2. decanalizations
  3. decanalize
  4. decanalized
  5. decanary
  6. decanate
  7. decanates
  8. decander
  9. decanders
  10. decandrian
  11. decandrous

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: decanate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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