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decimate - 3 dictionary results
dec⋅i⋅mate
[des-uh-meyt]
–verb (used with object), -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing.
| 1. | to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague. |
| 2. | to select by lot and kill every tenth person of. |
| 3. | Obsolete. to take a tenth of or from. |
Origin:
1590–1600; < L decimātus, ptp. of decimāre to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, v. deriv. of decimus tenth, deriv. of decem ten; see ate1
1590–1600; < L decimātus, ptp. of decimāre to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, v. deriv. of decimus tenth, deriv. of decem ten; see ate1

Related forms:
dec⋅i⋅ma⋅tion, noun
dec⋅i⋅ma⋅tor, noun
Usage note:
The earliest English sense of decimate is “to select by lot and execute every tenth soldier of (a unit).” The extended sense “destroy a great number or proportion of” developed in the 19th century: Cholera decimated the urban population. Because the etymological sense of one-tenth remains to some extent, decimate is not ordinarily used with exact fractions or percentages: Drought has destroyed (not decimated) nearly 80 percent of the cattle.
The earliest English sense of decimate is “to select by lot and execute every tenth soldier of (a unit).” The extended sense “destroy a great number or proportion of” developed in the 19th century: Cholera decimated the urban population. Because the etymological sense of one-tenth remains to some extent, decimate is not ordinarily used with exact fractions or percentages: Drought has destroyed (not decimated) nearly 80 percent of the cattle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To decimate
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Decimate
Dec"i*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Decimated; p. pr. & vb. n. Decimating.] [L. decimatus, p. p. of decimare to decimate (in senses 1 & 2), fr. decimus tenth. See Decimal.]1. To take the tenth part of; to tithe. --Johnson. 2. To select by lot and punish with death every tenth man of; as, to decimate a regiment as a punishment for mutiny. --Macaulay. 3. To destroy a considerable part of; as, to decimate an army in battle; to decimate a people by disease.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : decimate
Spanish:
diezmar,
German:
dezimieren,
Japanese:
多数を殺す
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in Indo-European roots.]