• vt. 十中抽一，取十分之一；大批殺害

來自decim-, 十分之一。原為軍事用語，一旦出現(xiàn)叛亂的城市或軍隊，則按照總數(shù)量十分之一的比例成批次殺死。類似于漢語的連坐。

decimate

decimate: [17] Decimate is a cause célèbre amongst those who apparently believe that words should never change their meanings. The original general signification of its Latin source, the verb decimāre, was the removal or destruction of one tenth (it was derived from Latin decem ‘ten’), and it may perhaps strike the 20th century as odd to have a particular word for such an apparently abstruse operation.

It does, however, arise out of two very specific procedures in the ancient world: the exaction of a tax of one tenth (for which indeed English has the ultimately related word tithe), and the practice in the Roman army of punishing a body of soldiers guilty of some crime such as mutiny by choosing one in ten of them by lot to be put to death. Modern English does not perhaps have much use for a verb with such specialized senses, but the general notion of impassive and indiscriminate slaughter implied in the Roman military use led, apparently as early as the mid- 17th century, to the modern sense ‘kill or destroy most of’.
=> decimal, ten

decimate (v.)

c. 1600, in reference to the practice of punishing mutinous military units by capital execution of one in every 10, by lot; from Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare (see decimation). Killing one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinous army was a common punishment in classical times. The word has been used (incorrectly, to the irritation of pedants) since 1660s for "destroy a large portion of." Related: Decimated; decimating.

1. Silber says the tax rollback would decimate basic services for the needy.

西爾伯說稅收的回落可能會大大減少為貧困人口提供的基本服務(wù)。

來自柯林斯例句

2. The pollution could decimate the river's thriving population of kingfishers.

污染可能會造成河邊大量繁殖的翠鳥大批死亡。

來自柯林斯例句

3. The pollution could decimate the river's thriving population of kingfishers.

污染可能會造成河邊大量繁殖的翠鳥大批死亡。

來自辭典例句

4. Many adversities decimate the fluke numbers.

許多很不利的因素可使吸蟲數(shù)量減少十分之一.

來自辭典例句

5. Her range of weaponry could easily decimate any convoy she encountered.

她強大的武器裝備可以輕易地讓任何和她遭遇的護航艦隊灰飛煙滅.

來自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)