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əˌmeɪtverb (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; < Latin decimātus, past participle of decimāre to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, verbal derivative of decimus tenth, derivative of decem ten; see -ate1
1590–1600; < Latin decimātus, past participle of decimāre to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, verbal derivative of decimus tenth, derivative of decem ten; see -ate1
Related forms
dec·i·ma·tion, noun
dec·i·ma·tor, noun
Can be confused: decimal, decimate, destroy (see usage note at the current entry; see synonym note at destroy).
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. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Decimate
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is decasyllable. Does it mean:
| a word or line of verse of ten syllables |
| leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace |
Example Sentences
- It is possible that Polynesian rats, arriving with human settlers, may have eaten enough seeds to help to decimate the trees.
- The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
- In a footnote of his 152-page ruling, he discounted fears that invalidating such patents would decimate the industry.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
decimate
c.1600, in reference to the practice of punishing mutinous military units by capital execution of one in every 10, by lot; from L. decimare "to take the tenth," from decimus "tenth" (see decimation). It has been used (incorrectly, to the irritation of pedants) since 1660s
EXPANDfor "destroy a large portion of." Related: Decimated (c.1600); decimating (1660s).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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