What does "decimate" mean?
A tithe or other 10% tax or payment.
Decimate
/ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A tithe or other 10% tax or payment.
- Grammar: decimate is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: annihilate, annihilate, bring to ruin, butcher.
- Useful contrasts: enlarge, expand, grow.
- Usage evidence: David Lindenmayer, a professor of ecology at the Australian National University, says droughts and fires can decimate koala populations.
How to use "decimate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "decimate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "decimate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "decimate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "decimate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "decimate" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "annihilate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "decimate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tithe or other 10% tax or payment. obsolete
- 2 A tenth of something. obsolete
- 3 A set of ten items. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To kill one-tenth of (a group), (historical, specifically) as a military punishment in the Roman army selected by lot, usually carried out by the surviving soldiers. archaic
"God sometimes decimates or tithes delinquent persons, and they died for a common crime, according as God hath cast their lot in the decrees of predestination."
- 2 kill in large numbers wordnet
- 3 To destroy or remove one-tenth of (something).
"...there will be eight hundred and ten laborers producing as nine hundred, while, to accomplish their purpose, they would have to produce as one thousand... Here, then, we have a society which is continually decimating itself..."
- 4 kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies wordnet
- 5 To devastate: to reduce or destroy significantly but not completely. broadly
"[England] had decimated itself for a question which involved no principle, and led to no result."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To exact a tithe or other 10% tax. obsolete
"You forge theſe things prettily; but I have heard you are as poor as a decimated Cavalier [referring to Cromwell's ten per cent. income-tax on Cavaliers], and had not one foot of land in all the vvorld."
- 7 To tithe: to pay a 10% tax. obsolete, rare
"[I]t is a deed of higheſt charitie to help undeceive the people, and a vvork vvorthieſt your autoritie, in all things els authors, aſſertors and novv recoverers of our libertie, to deliver us, the only people of all Proteſtants left ſtill undeliverd, from the oppreſſions of a Simonious decimating clergie; […]"
- 8 To divide into tenths; to decimalize. obsolete
"For example, in multiplying 3 by 0.2, the 3 units have to be decimated—that is, divided into 10 equal parts, obtaining 3 “deci-units” for each part, and then 2 such parts taken, giving as the answer 6 deci-units, or 0.6."
- 9 To reduce to one-tenth: to destroy or remove nine-tenths of (something). proscribed
"In this dramatic picture, the nation is literally decimated, and even the tenth which remains is subjected to a further destruction."
- 10 To replace (a high-resolution model) with another of lower but acceptable quality. (Usually algorithmically)
"A decimate tool allows us to obtain a more coarse-grained view of the data over the full n-dimensional space."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"David Lindenmayer, a professor of ecology at the Australian National University, says droughts and fires can decimate koala populations."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "decimate"?
Common synonyms include: annihilate, annihilate, bring to ruin, butcher, carry off, commit carnage.
How do you use "decimate" in a sentence?
David Lindenmayer, a professor of ecology at the Australian National University, says droughts and fires can decimate koala populations.
How do you pronounce "decimate"?
Pronounced /ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/.
Etymology
The verb is first attested in 1591, the noun in 1641; borrowed from Latin decimātus, perfect passive participle of decimō (“to kill one tenth; to tithe”) (see, from -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from decimus (“tenth”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). As a noun, via Latin decimatus (“tithing area; tithing rights”).