decimate:
- To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
- Usage Problem
- To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
- To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
- To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.
The last meaning refers to the Latin term
decimatio, a form of military punishment in which every tenth man (in a group to be punished) was executed. It was used when Roman commanders were
really pissed off (for example,
Crassus used it during the war with
Spartacus to punish cowardice.)
What is the point of all this?
The point is that while the first couple meanings are the most common usage, the most proper usage would probably be “to reduce in number by a tenth”.
I thought that such a precise definition of the word was interesting.
