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Historically, the word "decimate" means to "reduce/ destroy by one tenth"... i.e., a decimated army of 100 soldiers would have lost 10 soldiers.

Is there a word that means the inverse, IOW "reduce/ destroy to one tenth", where a XXXXX army of 100 would only have 10 soldiers left?

Ummm... dunno why this was marked as a duplicate to a question I didn't ask, but... still looking for an answer...

Jeremy Holovacs
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  • 'Historically', according to the accepted (and referenced) answer at the duplicate, 'to reduce / destroy by one tenth' is not the early reasonably common English sense, having only a very niche usage (and it's certainly not the default modern sense, as a look in any non-historical dictionary will show). But 'decimate' = 'reduce by exactly 90%' is too exact a definition in most contexts also. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 07 '20 at 11:32
  • @EdwinAshworth it seems that this was marked as a duplicate, but the reference does not seem to answer the question I posed. Please elucidate. – Jeremy Holovacs Jul 08 '20 at 00:39
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    I reopened this (the gold badge taketh away and the gold badge giveth back) because I think this is a valid question and not a dupe of the other one. Reasonable people can disagree. I will say, however, that I don't think there's a word that answers this question. – Robusto Jul 08 '20 at 00:52
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    @Robusto is probably right, I don't think there's a word that answers this question, however, nonadecacide fits the description but it isn't a word (maddey-uppy word). 'Nona' means nine, 'deca' means ten and 'cide' means to kill — to kill 9/10. – Decapitated Soul Jul 08 '20 at 05:52
  • It is explained at the duplicate that 'decimate' has only ever had a niche usage (when applied to armies, Roman in the first instance even in the 17th century when it came into the English lexicon) with the sense 'kill off 1/10'. In more standard usage, from 1663, the 'emphatically destroy, devastate, severely reduce (not by just 10%) the numbers of, etc' sense is the default one. This question lacks reasonable research, and the first sentence is very misleading. 'Decimate' is used for 'kill off a large proportion (not necessarily 90%)' and there will be no other classmate for ... – Edwin Ashworth Jul 08 '20 at 11:56
  • 'kill off exactly 90%', 'kill off around 75%', 'get rid of 1/3' etc. 'Decimate' is as close as one will get. // @Robusto Is there a good reason you haven't close-voted for lack of reasonable research? For the need of clarification (the etymological fallacy here being at least strongly suggested)? Decapitated Soul shows how mediocrity can rapidly infiltrate here. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 08 '20 at 12:02
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    @Edwin: "Mediocrity can rapidly infiltrate here"? That ship has sailed. I didn't close-vote because my gold badge will close the question with a single vote, and I would have others weigh in first. Sorry I don't share your certainty. – Robusto Jul 08 '20 at 12:24
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    @EdwinAshworth I don't know why you think it lacks reasonable research; it's literally the second definition of the word in Google's dictionary: "HISTORICAL kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group." – Jeremy Holovacs Jul 08 '20 at 12:41
  • If you look at the Help Center, it is said that reasonable research should accompany a question on ELU. Evidence of such is necessary (and the first definition in Lexico ['Google Dictionary' is a misnomer long considered totally inappropriate on ELU] is important, as it goes a long way to answering your question. Many use 'decimate' with 'reduce to 10%' in their minds, and while this isn't the strict definition, this is a lot nearer the modern meaning than 'reduce by 10%'. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 08 '20 at 13:07
  • @EdwinAshworth, while it is true that, as you say, many use decimate intending it to mean something like destroy almost completely, it is also true that many perceive such usage as wrong. A consistent descriptivist has to take both groups into account. – jsw29 Jul 08 '20 at 19:22
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    @EdwinAshworth I don't see anything like that (about Lexico/ Google Dictionary) in the Help Center and I don't see how looking it up in a dictionary would not be considered reasonable research in the definition of a word. I'm also mystified that Google Dictionary (Lexico's definition is slightly different than Google's BTW) would be considered inappropriate, as any English dictionary is descriptive of widely-accepted definitions... TBH the tone you're taking here seems bizarrely elitist and I cannot for life of me fathom how that's justified for the subject matter. – Jeremy Holovacs Jul 08 '20 at 19:22
  • It should be noted that the OP mentions decimate only in the preamble of the question. The question itself asks for the word that means 'reduce/destroy to one tenth' and could have been asked without mentioning decimate at all. That is a reasonable question about English language and usage, although, like Robusto, I suspect that the answer is that there is no such word. Given that Mr. Ashworth has reasons to think that, paradoxically, the word decimate, in fact means precisely that, it would be a valuable contribution to this site if he were to post that as his answer. – jsw29 Jul 09 '20 at 01:13
  • Wiktionary has 'Senses of decimate other than "to reduce by one in ten" are occasionally proscribed but "to devastate" has now become the more common usage. The sense "to reduce to one in ten" is etymologically unsound and omitted by the OED but increasingly common.' //// AHD has 'Usage Note: Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a ... – Edwin Ashworth Jul 09 '20 at 14:52
  • population. In our 2005 survey, 81 percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population.' //// and Webster's (same link as for AHD) 'decimate transitive verb (1) OBS to select by lot & kill every tenth one of (2) to destroy or kill a large part of: famine decimated the population' //// Why is none of this included in the question? It seems easy to access. And @jsw29 I rarely 'answer' when I've CV'd. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 09 '20 at 14:52
  • ... The word 'decimate' has few counterparts, 'half' and 'quarter' being the only corresponding verbal usages I can think of. No words for 'reduce by 90% / 80% / 75% / 66 2/3% / 60% ...'. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 09 '20 at 14:58
  • @EdwinAshworth: 'Why is none of this included in the question?' Because it is tangential to the question; the question could have been asked without mentioning decimate at all. – jsw29 Jul 09 '20 at 16:00
  • @jsw29 'The sense "to reduce to one in ten" is etymologically unsound and omitted by the OED but increasingly common.' is tangential to the question? Count me out of your geometry lessons. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 09 '20 at 20:21

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