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Meanings shift quickly. Decimate was first introduced circa 1600 from Latin to mean "destroy every tenth". By 1660, it started to mean "destroy large number".
by ianburrell 2y ago
Meanings shift quickly. Decimate was first introduced circa 1600 from Latin to mean "destroy every tenth". By 1660, it started to mean "destroy large number".
- indoordin0saur 2y agoThe word is from 'decimatio' which appears in original Roman histories written well before 1600.