decimate

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).

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[Latin decimāre, decimāt-, to punish every tenth person, from decimus, tenth, from decem, ten; see dekm̥ in Indo-European roots.]

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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

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" annihilate, eradicate, wipe out, carry off, eliminate, extinguish 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

verb

To kill savagely and indiscriminately:

annihilate, butcher, massacre, slaughter.

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

dezimieren

décimer

megtizedeltizedel

fækka stórlega

decimare

dešimt kartų sumažintismarkiai sumažinti

masveidā iznīcināt

decimeren

redusere sterkttynne ut

decimovať

büyük bir kısmını yoketmekkırıp geçirmek

大批杀死大量毁灭

decimate

[ˈdesɪmeɪt] VT (lit, fig) → diezmar

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

decimate

[ˈdɛsɪmeɪt] vt → décimer

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

decimate

[ˈdɛsɪˌmeɪt] vt → decimare

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. uitdun, afmaai, wegmaai يُهْلِكُ عَددا كَبيرا من покосявам dizimar decimovat, pustošit dezimieren decimere; tynde ud αποδεκατίζωdiezmar suuresti vähendama تلفات سنگین وارد کردن؛ لت و پار کردن hävittää décimer לְהָשמִיד חֶלֶק נִיכָּר बड़ी संख्या में मारना decimalna frakcija (meg)tizedel mengurangi fækka stórlega decimare 多数を殺す 많은 사람을 죽이다 smarkiai/dešimt kartų sumažinti masveidā iznīcināt musnah satu persepuluh decimerentynne ut, redusere sterkt zdziesiątkować لسمه برخه اخيستل يا ايستل، هر لسم سړى وژل، لويه برخه ځنى تلف كول dizimar a decima истреблять decimovať zdesetkati desetkovati decimera ลดจำนวนลง kırıp geçirmek, büyük bir kısmını yoketmek 大量毀滅(因疾病或戰爭) косити; пустошити بھاری تخفیف کرنا sát hại nhiều 大批杀死（或毁坏）

ˌdeciˈmation noun

desimering, uitdunning قَتْل عَدَد كَبيرٍ من покосяване dizimação decimování die Dezimierung decimering; udtynding αποδεκατισμός reducción catastrófica, acción de diezmar suur vähenemine تلفات زیاد hävitys décimation הָשמָדָה שֶׁל הָחֶלֶק הַעִיקָרִי नाश desetkovati megtizedelés pengurangan stórfellt mannfall decimazione 激減 대량 살해 sumažinimas masveida iznīcināšana pemusnahan ini decimering stort mannefall, desimering zdziesiątkowanie چاودونکی dizimação decimare истребление decimovanie zdesetkanje desetkovanje decimering การลดจำนวนลง imha, katliam 大量毀滅 спустошення بھاری تخفیف sự tiêu hao 大批杀死，大量毁灭

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

decimate

vt. diezmar.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012