decimation
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dec·i·mate
(dĕs′ə-māt′)tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates
1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group of people or organisms).
2. Usage Problem
a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The storm decimated the region.
b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers).
[Latin decimāre, decimāt-, to punish every tenth person, from decimus, tenth, from decem, ten; see dekm̥ in Indo-European roots.]
dec′i·ma′tion n.
Usage Note: Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a population. In our 2005 survey, 81 percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population. This is an increase from the 66 percent who accepted this sentence in our 1988 survey. However, the Panel is less accepting of usages that extend the meaning to include large-scale destruction other than killing, as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Some 36 percent accepted this sentence in 2005, up from 26 percent in 1988, but still a decided minority.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. | decimation - destroying or killing a large part of the population (literally every tenth person as chosen by lot) destruction, devastation - the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
قَتْل عَدَد كَبيرٍ من
decimování
decimeringudtynding
megtizedelés
stórfellt mannfall
decimovanie
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
decimation
[ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən] n (= destruction) [forests, animals, people] → destruction f
(= massive reduction) [system, organization] → décimation f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
decimate
(ˈdesimeit) verb (of disease, battle etc) to reduce greatly in number. The population was decimated by the plague.
ˌdeciˈmation nounKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
decimation
n. gran mortalidad, diezma.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012