decimation
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decimation
- /ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/ US, UK
Rhymes with -eɪʃən
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin decimātiō, a punishment where every 10th man in a unit would be stoned to death by the men who were spared. Used by the Romans to keep order in their military. Compare septimation and vicesimation.
noun decimations
-
The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
By decimation and a tythed death; / If thy Reuenges hunger for that Food, / Which Nature loathes, take thou the deſtin'd tenth, […]
Similar: tithing
- The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population. And the vvhole Army had cauſe to enquire into their own Rebellions, vvhen they ſavv the Lord of Hoſts, vvith a dreadful Decimation, taking off ſo many of our Brethren by the vvorſt of Executioners.
- A tithe or the act of tithing.
- The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
- A digital signal-processing technique for reducing the number of samples in a discrete-time signal; downsampling
Translations
Every language
noun selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
| 中文 | 十一抽殺 /十一抽杀 shíyīchōushā |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | αποδεκάτισμα apodekátisma |
| Русский | децимация decimacija |
noun killing or destruction of a large portion of a population
| Español | diezmado, decimación |
|---|
Talk about this word "decimation." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/decimation. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. decimation. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/decimation "decimation." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/decimation.Cite this
@misc{decimation_2026,
title = {decimation},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/decimation},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
