Word of the Day

: June 30, 2008

decimate

verb DESS-uh-mayt

What It Means

1 : to take or destroy the tenth part of

2 : to cause great destruction or harm to

decimate in Context

Farmers struggled to feed their families after their crops were decimated by blight.

Did You Know?

The connection between "decimate" and the number ten harks back to a brutal practice of the army of ancient Rome. A unit that was guilty of a severe crime (such as mutiny) was punished by selecting and executing one-tenth of its soldiers, thereby scaring the remaining nine-tenths into obedience. It's no surprise that the word for this practice came from Latin "decem," meaning "ten." From this root we also get our word "decimal" and the name of the month of December, originally the tenth month of the calendar before the second king of Rome decided to add January and February. In its extended uses "decimate" strayed from its "tenth" meaning and nowadays refers to the act of destroying or hurting something in great numbers.