decomposition

noun

1 the body is in an advanced state of decomposition:

decay, rotting, going bad, putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, festering, spoilage, perishing;

archaic corruption.

2 china clay is formed by the decomposition of granite:

breaking up, breaking apart, fragmenting, disintegration, crumbling, dissolution, dissolving;

breaking down, decay, decaying.

3 they presented a tree-like decomposition of a sentence into its parts:

separation, division, breakdown, break-up;

dissection, atomization, dissolution, resolution, analysis, reduction;

rare fractionation.

decomposition Oxford Dictionary of English