decimate
/ˈdɛsəmeɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.50 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To kill one-tenth of (a group), (historical, specifically) as a military punishment in the Roman army selected by lot, usually carried out by the surviving soldiers.
Archaic
verb
To devastate: to reduce or destroy significantly but not completely.
verb
To replace (a high-resolution model) with another of lower but acceptable quality. (Usually algorithmically)
Example Sentences
- "God sometimes decimates or tithes delinquent persons, and they died for a common crime, according as God hath cast their lot in the decrees of predestination."
- "Said to have been martyred as a Christian legionary commander of late Roman times for having refused an imperial order to kill one in ten (that is, decimate in the Roman meaning of the word) of the soldiers of another legion which had gone into revolt..."
- "...where Caesar threatened to disband Legio X after a mutiny. The men begged him to decimate them instead, and Caesar relented in the same way that Titus refrained from executing this cavalryman after his comrades’ appeal."
- "Shall we decimate them? That sounds good, nice word. Remove one-tenth of the population!"
- "...there will be eight hundred and ten laborers producing as nine hundred, while, to accomplish their purpose, they would have to produce as one thousand... Here, then, we have a society which is continually decimating itself..."
- "[England] had decimated itself for a question which involved no principle, and led to no result."
Etymology
The verb is first attested in 1591, the noun in 1641; borrowed from Latin decimātus, perfect passive participle of decimō (“to kill one tenth; to tithe”) (see, from -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from decimus (“tenth”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). As a noun, via Latin decimatus (“tithing area; tithing rights”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: decimatus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɛsəmeɪt/
- British English: /ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military.