時間把它拆開：腐爛
這一支是「反組合」交給大自然做：沒有人動手，是時間、濕氣和微生物慢慢把東西拆回土和氣體。
verb · B2
To break down slowly into simpler substances after dying, or to make something break down in this way.
腐爛；分解
核心畫面
Think of something that was put together coming apart again into the pieces it was made from. The word is compose with de- in front of it, and de- runs the action backwards. Sometimes time and weather do the taking-apart, and we call that rotting. Sometimes a person, a current or a machine does it on purpose, and we call that separating. Either way the picture is the same: a whole thing stops being one thing and becomes its parts.
可以想成一個組好的東西，又被拆回它原來的零件。這個字就是 compose（組合）前面加上 de-，而 de- 的作用…更多收起
可以想成一個組好的東西，又被拆回它原來的零件。這個字就是 compose（組合）前面加上 de-，而 de- 的作用是把動作倒著跑。有時候拆解的是時間和天氣，那就是腐爛：落葉、果皮慢慢散成土。有時候拆解的是人、電流或一台機器，而且是刻意的，那就是分解：水分解成氫和氧，任務分解成步驟。兩邊的畫面其實一樣——一個整體不再是一個整體，變回它的零件。From the word’s history
Borrowed from Middle French décomposer, and analysable in English as de- + compose. The core picture is literally 'un-compose'.
借自中古法文 décomposer，在英文裡可以直接拆成 de- 加 compose。核心畫面就是字面上的「反組合」。
Wiktionary etymology supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:394120821:18292)
Two branches
有人把它拆開：分解成零件
同一個「反組合」動作，這次是刻意做的，而且拆出來的零件完好無損——目的是看清楚裡面有什麼。
verb · C1
To separate something into the smaller parts it is made of, or to come apart into those parts.
分解；拆解