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[theblackalchemist]

lets check your vocablurary !!!!

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Originally Posted by TFD

dec·i·mate Pronunciation (ds-mt)
tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates
1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
2. Usage Problem

a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.

3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.

Originally Posted by OED

decimate /dessimayt/ • verb
1 kill or destroy a large proportion of.
2 drastically reduce the strength of.

Originally Posted by Webster's

dec·i·mate
Pronunciation: 'de-s&-"mAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -mat·ed; -mat·ing
Etymology: Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare, from decimus tenth, from decem ten
1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of
2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from <poor as a decimated Cavalier -- John Dryden>
3

a : to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population>
b : to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>

The word was originally coined to mean "one-in-ten" but the usage seemed to deviate from this original meaning around 1663 to mean more than "one-in-ten" and is now reflected as such by our modern dictionaries:

Originally Posted by Etymology Dictionary

decimation

1549, from L.L. decimationem, from L. decimare "the removal or destruction of one-tenth," from decem "ten." Killing one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinous army was a common punishment in classical times. Earliest sense in Eng. was of a tithe; decimate has been used (incorrectly, to the irritation of pedants) since 1663 for "destroy a large portion of."