The process or condition of growing old. (OED 2011)
- ca. 100
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Innumerabilia undique exempla separatorum morte fratrum succurrunt, immo contra vix ulla umquam horum paria conspecta sunt una senescentia
Seneca, Consolatio ad Polybium (in: Schriften zur Ethik: die kleinen Dialoge, hg. v. G. Fink, Düsseldorf 2008, 612-661): 648 (Nr. 15); vgl. auch Tertullian, De pallio: cap. 4.
- 1695
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the Earth, Sea, and all natural things will continue in the state wherein they now are, without the least Senescence or Decay
Woodward, J. (1695). An Essay Toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies: 61.
- 1756
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senescence [...] state of growing old; decay by time
Johnson, S. (1756). A Dictionary of the English Language, vol. 2.
- 1880
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With each successive generation of cells the power of growth diminishes. […] This loss of power I term senescence
Minot, C.S. (1880). On the conditions to be filled by a theory of life. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 28, 411-415: 413; cf. id. (1908). The Problem of Age, Growth, and Death. A Study of Cytomorphosis: 270.