noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American, UK:/ˌdɛsɪˈmeɪʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:D EH1 S AH0 M EY2 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ancient-Rome, countable, uncountable
Qualifier: strictly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tithing
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: generally
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A tithe or the act of tithing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: mathematics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.
A digital signal-processing technique for reducing the number of samples in a discrete-time signal; downsampling
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
destroying or killing a large part of the population (literally every tenth person as chosen by lot)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: destruction, devastation
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
12 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Chinese Mandarin:
十一抽殺 /十一抽杀
(shíyīchōushā)
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Finnish:
desimaatio
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Greek:
αποδεκάτισμα
(apodekátisma)
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Macedonian:
десеткување
(desetkuvanje)
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Russian:
децимация
(decimacija)
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Swedish:
decimering
— selection of every tenth person for death or other punishment
Finnish:
joukkotuho
— killing or destruction of a large portion of a population
Finnish:
joukkosurma
— killing or destruction of a large portion of a population
Spanish:
diezmado
— killing or destruction of a large portion of a population
Spanish:
decimación
— killing or destruction of a large portion of a population
Finnish:
desimointi
— creation of a new sequence comprising every nth element of the original
Finnish:
desimointi
— digital signal-processing technique