Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
-
- [des-uh-meyt]
- /ˈdɛs əˌmeɪt/
- /ˈdes.ɪ.meɪt/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [des-uh-meyt]
- /ˈdɛs əˌmeɪt/
Definitions of decimate word
- verb decimate To decimate something such as a group of people or animals means to destroy a very large number of them. 3
- verb decimate To decimate a system or organization means to reduce its size and effectiveness greatly. 3
- verb decimate to destroy or kill a large proportion of 3
- verb decimate (esp in the ancient Roman army) to kill every tenth man of (a mutinous section) 3
- verb transitive decimate to select by lot and kill every tenth one of 3
- verb transitive decimate to destroy or kill a large part of 3
Information block about the term
Origin of decimate
First appearance:
before 1590 One of the 37% oldest English words
1590-1600; < Latin decimātus, past participle of decimāre “to punish every tenth man chosen by lot,” verbal derivative of decimus “tenth,” derivative of decem ten; see -ate1
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Decimate
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
decimate popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 66% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.
decimate usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for decimate
verb decimate
- wipe out — an act of wiping: He gave a few quick wipes to the furniture.
- obliterate — to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely.
- annihilate — To annihilate something means to destroy it completely.
- slaughter — Frank, 1908–2001, U.S. novelist and physician.
- massacre — the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.
noun decimate
- clean out — If you clean out something such as a cupboard, room, or container, you take everything out of it and clean the inside of it thoroughly.
- dilapidate — to cause or allow (a building, automobile, etc.) to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect (often used passively): The house had been dilapidated by neglect.
- use up — to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of: to use a knife.
- wrecker — a person or thing that wrecks.
- ruination — the act or state of ruining or the state of being ruined.
Antonyms for decimate
Top questions with decimate
- what does decimate mean?
- what is decimate?
- what does the word decimate mean?
- what is the definition of decimate?
- what does decimate?
- what is the meaning of decimate?
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with d
- Words starting with de
- Words starting with dec
- Words starting with deci
- Words starting with decim
- Words starting with decima
- Words starting with decimat
- Words starting with decimate