PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-decimate
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
10 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.
historical dictionarymw-decimate
Decimate — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 157GRADE Asupports
The one-in-ten origin is real—and the usage scold is still wrong.
English began with the tenth-member punishment sense, then broadened the word within decades. Etymology records change; it does not veto it.
*dekm̥
*dekm̥ → decem → decimus → decimāre → decimate
Did You Know; Word HistoryDocuments the tenth-member punishment sense and the early English broadening.
decimate dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING
022
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
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.
Did You Know; Word HistoryDocuments the exact one-in-ten sense and broadening within decades.
resolvedsupportsestablished
Is the Roman tenth-member story invented?
No. The Latin and historical punishment sense is real; the error is using etymology to ban later English meanings.
Did You Know; Word HistoryDocuments the genuine Roman and Latin tenth-member history.
033
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 169supportsestablished
decimate → decimāre
Present-Day English → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- English decimate is formed on the Latin past-participial stem decimāt-.
- MEANING
- The exact selection or taxation of a tenth broadens within English to drastic reduction or destruction.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Did You Know; Word HistoryRecords exact Roman/English tenth-member sense, first use, and early broadening.
EDGE 170supportsestablished
decimāre → decimus
Latin → Latin · derivation
- SOUND
- Latin decimāre is derived from the tenth/ordinal family.
- MEANING
- “Tenth” becomes the action “take or select a tenth.”
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
EtymologyDerives decimāre from decimus.
EDGE 171supportsestablished
decimus → decem
Latin → Latin · ordinal derivation
- SOUND
- Latin decimus is the ordinal formation corresponding to decem.
- MEANING
- The cardinal “ten” becomes ordinal “tenth.”
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
EtymologyDerives decimus from decem.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
decimateSOURCE-REPORTED
decimate
English lexicographic first-use record for decimate
OPEN WITNESS 42 ↗050
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
No comparative-relative record currently cites this source.
063
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 2supports
Roman world
Documents the historical every-tenth punishment sense and derives Latin decimare through decimus “tenth” from decem “ten.”
Definitions 1 and Word History: Etymology · broadstage 3supports
England
Reports 1660 for the first known English use in the every-tenth sense.
Word History: First Known Use · approximatestage 4supports
English-language decimate senses
Reports that the broader severe-damage or destruction meaning arose within a few decades and has been used steadily since the seventeenth century; current definitions preserve it.
Did You Know?; definitions 3a–b · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
3 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.