SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Decimate — Word History
Documents the exact one-in-ten sense and broadening within decades.
Did You Know; Word History- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 61
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Must decimate mean only kill one in ten?
No. That was its earliest English historical sense, but drastic reduction and destruction have been established since the seventeenth century.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 61
decimate
/ˈdɛsəˌmeɪt/ · verb
To destroy or reduce drastically; borrowed from a Latin verb built on “tenth” and first used in English for killing every tenth member of a group.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
SOURCE 02contexteditorial reference
The Original Definition of Decimate
Explains why the broader English sense is established rather than erroneous.
Regarding the Incorrect Use of Decimate- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster dates the exact sense to 1660 and documents broadening within decades.
The graph preserves both the numerical origin and legitimate semantic change.