Decimate:
- history : to select by lot and kill every tenth member of
decimate a regiment- : to exact a tax of 10 percent from
… poor as a decimated Cavalier …
– John Dryden- a : to reduce drastically especially in number
An outbreak of cholera decimated the population.
Kamieniecki’s return comes at a crucial time for a pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries.
– Jason Diamos
b : to cause great destruction or harm to
A fire decimated the city.
an industry decimated by recession
I’ve noticed the word decimate has been coming into vogue recently. Each time someone on the television uses it, either I or my Arts Editor howls at the television that it’s not a synonym for destroy, but for destroying 10% of something, as a trace of the word’s etymology reveals.
Today, I decided to check it, keeping in mind that a word’s origins are not the last word in definition, but .. oh, you get it. Good.
So, as we see above, the third definition, down in the list, makes their use, well, valid. Those using the word still come across as poseurs, but in our current era that’s hardly a surprise. People claw for recognition these days, from influencers to reporters, because prestige and power can originate from simply rising above the general run of humanity.
Noted in “White House picks a fight over its ‘objectives’ in Iran, but reality stands in its way,” Steve Benen, Maddowblog:
Iran’s navy has certainly been decimated, but the other four objectives — the ones outlined on, to borrow Hegseth’s phrasing, “day one” — have plainly not been met.
