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Glite Dictionary
💥 To destroy many 🏺 To kill one-tenth
to decimate

to decimate

1 8.8
To kill one in ten soldiers as a punishment in ancient Rome
  • verb
  • /ˈdɛsɪˌmeɪt/
  • NSFW
translation icon : diezmar
  • The names at the lower end of the alphabet, about two hundred combat infantry soldiers, were assigned to the Seventieth Tank Battalion, First Cavalry Division, a celebrated unit that had been decimated in Korea.
  • decimated the army

Examples

  • The invading army aimed to decimate the enemy forces by taking out one in every ten soldiers.

  • "Decimate" means to kill one tenth of the enemy troops.

    Blog text (25)

  • You want to fight for American rights, then help the American Indian whom we have basically decimated.

    Blog text (26)

  • After the revolt, however, the decimated Jewish population posed far less of a threat than the Romans.

    Academic text (2007)

  • And, in the end, the decimated seceding states were forced by military attrition to return to the Union.

    Blog text (26)

  • What little hope the Marlins had left for the sake of their franchise was crushed by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig Thursday when he indicated he would not block the trade that would basically decimate their whole team.

    Blog text (19)

  • When you decimate your workforce, literally take it to a tenth of what it was, through outsourcing, generated early retirements, and buyouts, you will then be able to make the argument that your pension costs are out of whack.

    Blog text (12)

  • The general decided to decimate his own troops as punishment for their cowardice during battle.

  • As the disease spread, it began to decimate the local population, leaving only a small fraction of survivors.

Antonyms

to preserve
496 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

to safeguard
45 3.7

To protect someone or something from harm

Surface Forms

decimate infinitive
decimated past
decimated past participle
decimating present participle
decimates third person singular

Morphology

decimate = ten (semi-transparent) = decim + ate

Historically the verb directly reflects 'ten' (decim-) + '-ate' meaning to take or kill one in ten, but the combining form is Latin and not a standalone English morpheme learners routinely use.

Etymology

Decimate originally meant to kill 'one in ten', from Latin decem 'ten', and it described a punishment in the Roman army where commanders would kill every tenth soldier. So historically it was a literal act of killing one in ten as a punishment.