decimo Latin · revision 697

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈdɛ.kɪ.moː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdɛː.t͡ʃi.mo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''decimō''' (present infinitive decimāre, perfect active decimāvī, supine decimātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[decimus]] “tenth” with the verbal suffix ''-ō'', a derivative of [[decem]] “ten”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) A by-form [[m|la|decumō]] is found.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Festus records an old sense, to offer a tithe to a god.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The military sense appears from the 1st century AD, in Tacitus and Suetonius, although Lewis and Short note that the punishment itself is reported much earlier, by Livy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the army it meant to punish every tenth man chosen by lot, as Galba did to mutinous marines, and Augustus fed decimated cohorts on barley.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) In the Vulgate it meant to pay or collect tithes, a sense continued in Ecclesiastical Latin.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995) The participle ''decimatus'' was used by Symmachus to mean “choice, excellent”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In medieval Latin it meant to reduce by a tenth.^(MLW) English borrowed it as [[en|decimate]] around 1600 in the military sense, and has used it loosely for “destroy a large part of” since the 1660s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd century AD – Festus records it for offering a tithe.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it for the punishment of surrendered troops.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius reports decimations by Augustus and Galba.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for paying tithes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English borrows it as [[en|decimate]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(military)'' To punish every tenth man chosen by lot, [[m|en|decimate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To offer a tithe to a god.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' To pay or collect [[m|en|tithe|alt=tithes]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[addecimō]]

+ * [[decimātiō]]

+ * [[decimātor]]

+ * [[edecimo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[decem]]

+ * [[decimus]]

+ * [[en|decimate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}