decimate
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decimate
to destroy a great number or proportion of: Cholera decimated the city’s population; to select by lot and kill every tenth person
Not to be confused with:
destroy – demolish; ruin; annihilate; kill, slay; defeat completely: They will destroy the entire village.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
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.
decimate
(ˈdɛsɪˌmeɪt)vb (tr)
1. to destroy or kill a large proportion of: a plague decimated the population.
2. (Military) (esp in the ancient Roman army) to kill every tenth man of (a mutinous section)
[C17: from Latin decimāre, from decimus tenth, from decem ten]
ˌdeciˈmation n
ˈdeciˌmator n
Usage: One talks about the whole of something being decimated, not a part: disease decimated the population, not disease decimated most of the population
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
dec•i•mate
(ˈdɛs əˌmeɪt)v.t. -mat•ed, -mat•ing.
1. to destroy a great proportion of: Cholera decimated the population.
2. (esp. in ancient Rome) to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.
3. to take a tenth of or from.
[1590–1600; < Latin decimātus, past participle of decimāre to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, v. derivative of decimus tenth]
dec`i•ma′tion, n.
dec′i•ma`tor, n.
usage: The extended sense of decimate, “to destroy a great number or proportion of,” developed in the 19th century. Because the etymological sense of one-tenth remains to some extent, decimate is not ordinarily used with figures: Drought has destroyed (not decimated) 80 percent of the herd.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
decimate
Past participle: decimated
Gerund: decimating
| Imperative |
|---|
| decimate |
| decimate |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. | decimate - kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies annihilate, eradicate, wipe out, decimate, eliminate, carry off, extinguish - kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" |
| 2. | decimate - kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population" decimate - kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
decimate
verb
1. destroy, devastate, wipe out, ravage, eradicate, annihilate, put paid to, lay waste, wreak havoc on Pollution could decimate the river's population of kingfishers.
2. reduce, diminish, decrease, weaken, lessen, wind down, downsize The recession decimated the nation's manufacturing industry.
Usage: This word, which comes from Latin, originally referred to the slaughtering of one in ten soldiers, a practice of the army of Ancient Rome. In current language, however, the meaning of the word has broadened and it is now used not only to describe the destruction of people and animals, but also of institutions: overseas visitors will stay away in droves, decimating the tourist industry. Synonyms such as destroy (for sense 1) and reduce (for sense 2) are appropriate alternatives but because decimate should be used with regards to effects on the whole of something, rather than a part, it does not work as a synonym for them.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
decimate
verbTo kill savagely and indiscriminately:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُهْلِكُ عَددا كَبيرا من
decimovatpustošit
decimeretynde ud
megtizedeltizedel
fækka stórlega
dešimt kartų sumažintismarkiai sumažinti
masveidā iznīcināt
decimovať
büyük bir kısmını yoketmekkırıp geçirmek
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
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
decimate
vt → dezimieren
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
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.
decimate
vt. diezmar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012