decimation
noun/ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/US
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin decimātiō, a punishment where every 10th man in a unit would be stoned to death by the men who were spared. Used by the Romans to keep order in their military. Compare septimation and vicesimation.
- borrowed from decimātiō
Definitions
The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
- By decimation and a tythed death; / If thy Reuenges hunger for that Food, / Which Nature loathes, take thou the deſtin'd tenth, […]
The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population.
- And the vvhole Army had cauſe to enquire into their own Rebellions, vvhen they ſavv the Lord of Hoſts, vvith a dreadful Decimation, taking off ſo many of our Brethren by the vvorſt of Executioners.
A tithe or the act of tithing.
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
The neighborhood
- neighbordecimate
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for decimation. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA