decimal system

noun

1

: a number system that uses a notation in which each number is expressed in base 10 by using one of the first nine integers or 0 in each place and letting each place value be a power of 10

2

: a system of measurement or currency in which the basic units increase by powers of 10

Examples of decimal system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Another column dances around multiples of 10, the all-important core of our modern decimal system: 11, 21, 19, 9. —Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Sep. 2024

Stokes and Collins had invented a new way to catalogue the Broad Institute’s million-molecule library—a kind of deep-learning Dewey decimal system. —Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

Our familiar base 10 decimal system uses the 10 digits from zero to 9. —Quanta Magazine, 9 Aug. 2024

In cultures attuned to the decimal system, a 50-day period always possesses some resonance. —Martin Weil, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2024

Today's numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. —Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023

Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. —Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023

So what if there was a memory librarian who had a whole Dewey decimal system of people’s past identities? —Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2023

While Fibonacci saw the superior utility in the Hindu-Arabic system and the related decimal system, Italians and (The Church) viewed it with suspicion. —Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

decimal system

noun

1

: a system of numbers that uses a base of 10

2

: a system of measurement or money in which each basic unit is 10 times larger than the next smaller unit

the metric system is a decimal system