To Decimate
<ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#archaic" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">archaic</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To kill <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/one-tenth" title="one-tenth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">one-tenth</a> of a group, <span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#historical" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">historical</a><span class="ib-comma" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">,</span> specifically</span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> as a military punishment in the <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Roman" title="Roman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">Roman</a> army <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/select" title="select" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">selected</a> by <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/lot" title="lot" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">lot</a>, usually <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/carry_out" title="carry out" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">carried out</a> by the <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/surviving" title="surviving" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">surviving</a>soldiers.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/destroy" title="destroy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">destroy</a> or <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/remove" title="remove" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">remove</a> one-tenth of anything.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#loosely" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">loosely</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/devastate" title="devastate" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">devastate</a>: to <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/reduce" title="reduce" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">reduce</a> or destroy <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/significantly" title="significantly" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">significantly</a> but not <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/completely" title="completely" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">completely</a>.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#obsolete" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">obsolete</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/exact" title="exact" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">exact</a> a <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tithe" title="tithe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tithe</a> or other 10% <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tax" title="tax" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tax</a></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#obsolete" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">obsolete</a><span class="ib-comma" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">,</span> rare</span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tithe" title="tithe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tithe</a>: to <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/pay" title="pay" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">pay</a> a 10% tax.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#obsolete" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">obsolete</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/decimalize" title="decimalize" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">decimalize</a>: to <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/divide" title="divide" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">divide</a> into <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tenth" title="tenth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tenths</a>, <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/hundredth" title="hundredth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">hundredths</a> etc.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#proscribed" title="Appendix:Glossary" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">proscribed</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To reduce to one-tenth: to <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/destroy" title="destroy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">destroy</a> or <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/remove" title="remove" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">remove</a> <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/nine-tenths" title="nine-tenths" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">nine-tenths</a> of anything.</li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: inherit; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/computer_graphics" title="computer graphics" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">computer graphics</a></span><span class="ib-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span> To <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/replace" title="replace" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">replace</a> a <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/high-resolution" title="high-resolution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">high-resolution</a> <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/model" title="model" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">model</a> with another of lower but <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/acceptable" title="acceptable" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">acceptable</a> <a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/quality" title="quality" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">quality</a>.</li></ol><h4 class="in-block" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.3; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word; display: table; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Usage_notes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background: none; display: table-cell; width: 272px;">Usage notes</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background: none; display: table-cell;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=decimate&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Usage notes" data-section="5" class="mw-ui-icon mw-ui-icon-element mw-ui-icon-minerva-edit-enabled edit-page" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); position: relative; min-height: 1.5em; min-width: 3.5em; text-indent: -999px; overflow: hidden; width: 3.5em; max-width: 3.5em; display: block;">Edit</a></span></h4><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Senses of <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">decimate</i> other than "to reduce by one in ten" are occasionally proscribed but "to devastate" has now become the more common usage.<sup id="cite_ref-oed_1-1" class="reference" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/decimate#cite_note-oed-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/decimate#cite_note-3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">[3]</a></sup> The sense "to reduce to one in ten" is etymologically unsound and omitted by the <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">OED</i> but increasingly common.</p><h4 class="in-block" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.3; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word; display: table; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Synonyms" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background: none; display: table-cell; width: 272px;">Synonyms</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; background: none; display: table-cell;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=decimate&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Synonyms" data-section="6" class="mw-ui-icon mw-ui-icon-element mw-ui-icon-minerva-edit-enabled edit-page" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); position: relative; min-height: 1.5em; min-width: 3.5em; text-indent: -999px; overflow: hidden; width: 3.5em; max-width: 3.5em; display: block;">Edit</a></span></h4><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; list-style: square outside; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">to kill 10% of</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span><span class="ib-colon sense-qualifier-colon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">:</span> <span class="Latn" lang="en" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tithe#English" title="tithe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tithe</a></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">to kill 90% of</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span><span class="ib-colon sense-qualifier-colon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">:</span> <span class="Latn" lang="en" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tithe#English" title="tithe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tithe</a></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">to lay waste</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span><span class="ib-colon sense-qualifier-colon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">:</span> <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">See</i> <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/devastate" title="devastate" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">devastate</a></b></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">to pay a 10% tax</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span><span class="ib-colon sense-qualifier-colon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">:</span> <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">See</i> <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tithe" title="tithe" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">tithe</a></b></li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: inherit; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">(</span><span class="ib-content qualifier-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">to divide into ⅒s</span><span class="ib-brac qualifier-brac" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">)</span><span class="ib-colon sense-qualifier-colon" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">:</span> <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">See</i> <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;"><a href="https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/decimalize" title="decimalize" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161);">decimalize</a></b></li></ul>