dec·i·mate
verb \ˈde-sə-ˌmāt\
: to destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)
: to severely damage or destroy a large part of (something)
dec·i·mat·ed dec·i·mat·ing
Full Definition of DECIMATE
transitive verb
1: to select by lot and kill every tenth man of
2: to exact a tax of 10 percent from <poor as a decimated Cavalier — John Dryden>
3a : to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population>
b : to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>
— dec·i·ma·tion noun
Examples of DECIMATE
- This kind of moth is responsible for decimating thousands of trees in our town.
- Budget cuts have decimated public services in small towns.
Origin of DECIMATE
Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare, from decimus tenth, from decem ten
First Known Use: 1660
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate
Usage note
The earliest English sense of decimate is “to select by lot and execute every tenth soldier of (a unit).” The extended sense “destroy a great number or proportion of” developed in the 19th century: Cholera decimated the urban population. Because the etymological sense of one-tenth remains to some extent, decimate is not ordinarily used with exact fractions or percentages: Drought has destroyed (not decimated ) nearly 80 percent of the cattle.
The earliest English sense of decimate is “to select by lot and execute every tenth soldier of (a unit).” The extended sense “destroy a great number or proportion of” developed in the 19th century: Cholera decimated the urban population. Because the etymological sense of one-tenth remains to some extent, decimate is not ordinarily used with exact fractions or percentages: Drought has destroyed (not decimated ) nearly 80 percent of the cattle.
wendytheredhead 