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Decimation

/ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/

(strictly) The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.

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📖 Definitions of "Decimation"

noun

1
(strictly) The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
2
(generally) The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population.
3
A tithe or the act of tithing.
4
The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.

💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Decimation"

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
destructionnoun	The act of destroying.
depletionnoun	The consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished.
decemuirnoun	Obsolete form of decemvir. [(historical) Any of two groups of 10 men selected in 451 and 450 B.C. to wield complete power over Rome and establish the laws of the Twelve Tables.]
centesimationnoun	(military history, rare) The selection by lot of every hundredth man (of an army or group of prisoners or mutineers) for execution.
decimvirnoun	Misspelling of decemvir. [(historical) Any of two groups of 10 men selected in 451 and 450 B.C. to wield complete power over Rome and establish the laws of the Twelve Tables.]
decimnoun	(uncommon) A decimeter.
dismenoun	(US, dated, 18th century) A dime minted in 1792.
duodecimvirnoun	(historical, Ancient Rome) Any member of a group of twelve officials.
décimenoun	Alternative form of decime (“coin”). [(historical, law, obsolete) Synonym of tithing (a division of the hundreds of medieval England)]
decimanoun	(Roman mythology) One of the three Fates, or Parcae, daughter of Jupiter and Justitia; the measurer of the thread of life. She is the Roman equivalent of Lachesis.
decemviratenoun	A group of ten people, especially (politics) a council of ten men sharing office or power and particularly (historical) the groups of ten men who reformed and codified Roman law circa 450 BCE.
decimaternoun	Alternative form of decimator. [One who decimates, particularly:]
quindecimvirnoun	(historical) Any member of an official group of fifteen people, especially a member of the 15-man college of priests who cared for the Sibylline Books in ancient Rome.
septimationnoun	(rare) The loss, seizure, destruction, or killing of one seventh (of something or of a group).
decimviratenoun	Misspelling of decemvirate. [A group of ten people, especially (politics) a council of ten men sharing office or power and particularly (historical) the groups of ten men who reformed and codified Roman law circa 450 BCE.]
decenarynoun	(law, historical) A tithing.
quindecimviratenoun	(uncommon) A group of fifteen people, especially (politics) a council of fifteen men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.
duodecimviratenoun	(uncommon) A group of twelve people, especially (politics) a council of twelve men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.
decarchynoun	(politics) A government of ten people, especially (historical) various Greek councils of ten men
décimanoun	(poetry) Alternative form of decima. [(generally obsolete) A tenth, particularly]