verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/diːkənˈtæmɪneɪt/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:D IY0 K AH0 N T AE1 M AH0 N EY2 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
verb
Meaning 1
To remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
rid of contamination
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
The soil around the housing development had to be decontaminated by the city
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: contaminate
Broader terms: cleanse, clean
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h1 Proto-Indo-European *déh1 Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- English contaminate English decontaminate From de- + contaminate.
Across languages
Translations
13 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Danish:
rense
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Danish:
desinficere
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
French:
décontaminer
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
German:
dekontaminieren
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
German:
entseuchen
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Irish:
dí-éilligh
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Irish:
díthruailligh
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Italian:
decontaminare
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Japanese:
除染する
(josen suru)
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Luxembourgish:
entgëften
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Norwegian Bokmål:
dekontaminere
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Russian:
дезактиви́ровать
(dezaktivírovatʹ)
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe
Spanish:
descontaminar
— to remove contamination from (something), rendering it safe