decimation
nounUS, UK /ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/
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.
1
Ancient Rome 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, […]c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 98, column 1:
2
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.1702, Cotton Mather, “Book V (Acts and Monuments. […])”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, 4th part (The Reforming Synod of New-England, […]), § 1, page 86, column 1:
- General Secretary Mick Lynch said: "It is crystal clear that the planned cutbacks on ScotRail and SWR are just the tip of the iceberg, as cynical employers use the cloak of COVID-19 to smuggle through the decimation of jobs and services on Britain's railways.2021 September 8, “RMT on "war footing" in response to workforce cutback threats”, in RAIL, number 939, page 15:
3
A tithe or the act of tithing.
4
Mathematics, Sciences The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences, Signal processing A digital signal-processing technique for reducing the number of samples in a discrete-time signal; downsampling
- Related terms
- decimate
- Coordinate terms
- quintation (1, 5), septimation (1, 7), vicesimation (1, 20), tricesimation (1, 30), centesimation (1, 100)