decimate
verb
John DrydenJason Diamos
Did you know?
Decimate is a word that often raises hackles, at least those belonging to a small but committed group of logophiles who feel that it is commonly misused. The issue that they have with the decline and fall of the word decimate is that once upon a time in ancient Rome it had a very singular meaning: “to select by lot and kill every tenth man of a military unit.” However, many words in English descended from Latin have changed and/or expanded their meanings in their travels. For example, we no longer think of sinister as meaning “on the left side,” and delicious can describe things both tasty and delightful. Was the “to kill every tenth man” meaning the original use of decimate in English? Yes, but not by much. It took only a few decades for decimate to acquire its broader, familiar meaning of “to severely damage or destroy,” which has been employed steadily since the 17th century.
Examples of decimate in a Sentence
Josh Meyer, USA Today, 7 June 2025
The discovery of unexploded weapons is a frequent phenomenon in Cologne, which was decimated by Allied bombing during World War II, but no operation of this size has been carried out since the end of the war, the city said.
—Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 4 June 2025
The Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, its research arm, faced $900 million in cuts under DOGE’s directive, decimating employment both in the agency and among other research groups whose workers relied on federal contracts.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 4 June 2025
Fugate’s appointment is the latest shock for an office that has been decimated since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began remaking national security to give it a laser focus on immigration.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for decimate
Cite this Entry
“Decimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimate. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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decimate
verb
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