v.tr. 1 disp. destroy a large proportion of. °Now the usual sense, although often deplored as an inappropriate use. 2 orig. Mil. kill or remove one in every ten of. decimation n. decimator n.
[ L decimare take the tenth man f. decimus tenth ]
DECIMATE
Meaning of DECIMATE in English
Concise Oxford English dictionary. Краткий оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2012