decima meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

decima

noun

/ˈdɛsɪmə/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin decima (“a tenth”), now particularly via Italian decima. Doublet of decim, decime, and dime.

› A tenth, particularly

A tithe or tax of one-tenth (now usually in historical Italian contexts).

Generally obsolete

He brandished his title as apostolic commissioner in court, and as supervisor of the papal decima in Tuscany.1988, Renaissance Studies, volume 2, page 195:

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Obsolete A tenth: a note nine degrees of the scale above or below a given note (and thus ten degrees separate counting inclusively) or the interval between such notes.

Generally obsolete

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music An organ stop a tenth above the normal 8-foot pitch.

Generally obsolete

Synonyms: tenth, tithe, double-tierce, great-tierce

decima

noun

Etymology Borrowed from Spanish décima, from Latin decima (“a tenth”). Doublet of decim, decime, and dime.

Communications, Journalism, Literature, Media, Poetry, Publishing, Writing A 10-line verse or stanza, (chiefly) in the form of a song comprising an introductory verse followed by four such divisions.

His album... dealt with the song form of Puerto Rican back-country troubadours, and it had a preoccupation with... the décima, a 10-line stanza with specific rhyme schemes.2008 December 4, New York Times, C8: