• Feathercrown@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    18 days ago

    Using “decimate” to mean “completely destroy” is not a misuse of the word. The word’s meaning has simply changed.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      18 days ago

      exactly. plus it makes sense, there’s no reason why decimate can’t mean reduce to one tenth.

      • Hugin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        17 days ago

        It’s right there in the word. deci 1/10 mate from matus to remove. It’s like expecting half price to mean 1/3 price. We use deci all the time to mean 1/10 Decileter, decimal, etc.