the.com/deterioration
The slow, dignified process of everything quietly agreeing to fall apart.
means The gradual decline of something from a better state into a worse, weaker, or more broken one.
from From Latin deterior, meaning worse or inferior, which itself traces to de, marking a downward drift away from where things began.
Built-in worseThe Latin root literally just means worse.
Physics agreesEntropy makes deterioration the universe's default setting.
Not collapseImplies a slow slide, not a sudden break.