decadal

Decadal is used to describe something that involves or lasts for a decade or a period of 10 consecutive years, as in a decadal growth rate. 

Decadal is mostly used to describe something that lasted for 10 years, occurred over 10 years, or is concerned with a time period of 10 years. A decadal climate change survey, for example, is a survey that records 10 years of climate change data.

The similar word decennial can describe something related to a decade, too, but it can also describe something that happens once every 10 years, such as the U.S. Census. Decadal is not used this way.

Example: In order to have enough data, the scientists studied decadal periods of temperature change.

The first records of the word decadal come from around the 1740s. It comes from the word decade, meaning “a period of 10 years,” and the suffix -al, which means “of or pertaining to.”

Decadal is not a common word. It is most often used in scientific writing, such as research that analyzes changes or shifts over 10-year periods. Someone may be able to figure out what you mean if you use decadal, but you are probably better off using a phrase instead, like “lasted a decade” or “over a decade.”

What are some other forms related to decadal?

• decadally (adverb)

What are some synonyms for decadal?

• decennial

What are some words that share a root or word element with decadal? 

• decade

What are some words that often get used in discussing decadal?

• decade
• ten
• years
• survey
• growth
• rate
• cycle

Decadal is not commonly used outside of scientific contexts.

The decadal report from the National Research Council on astronomy and astrophysics research is released at 11 a.m. EDT http://bit.ly/a3e0bB

— NASA (@NASA) August 13, 2010

"Sea-ice loss amplifies summertime decadal CO2 increase in the western Arctic Ocean" Ouyang et al. 2020 Nature Climate Change https://t.co/Y0kVtFcZuu

— Dr. Nancy Williams (@OG_Nancy) September 11, 2020

With all the excitement about #DPS2020, I forgot to mention that the final panels for the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey have been announced!

— Ed Rivera-Valentín 🇵🇷🏳️‍🌈 (@PlanetTreky) October 28, 2020

Decadal is most closely related to which of the following lengths of time?

A. one year
B. five years
C. 10 years
D. 100 years