# Ignorance-fighting etymological tidbit: what "decimate" really meant in ancient Rome **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710 "2026-05-02T00:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/1 "2026-05-02T00:22:28Z")
Interesting article on the NPR website today. I knew that people mostly use this word incorrectly (not naming names but you know who I mean) or at least, imprecisely, but geez Louise… Back then it meant something specific, violent, and shocking. > # ‘Decimate’ means much more today than it did in ancient Rome > > ['Decimate' means much more today than it did in ancient Rome : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5775464/decimate-ancient-rome-punishment-trump) In a nutshell: > … > Michiel de Vaan, an etymologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, says decimate traces back to the Latin _decimatio,_ by way of _decimus,_ meaning a tenth. In its original Latin form, _decimatio_ “meant to take out and kill one-tenth of a group of soldiers,” he says. > > It meant something very specific — a brutal form of discipline, not a vague notion of widespread destruction, de Vaan notes. > > … > > Such punishment was rarely inflicted, but when it did occur, it was carried out with cold-blooded efficiency, Aldrete says. **“They would have the group that they wanted to punish randomly draw lots, and every tenth soldier was then clubbed to death by nine others.”** > > The idea behind this punishment was that sacrificing 10% of an army’s soldiers was sufficient to create a lasting impression on the others, deterring future misbehavior without losing too much military strength. > … My bold. 😱 Is this the “warrior culture” that Pete Kegsbreath is promoting? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/2 "2026-05-02T00:56:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Is this the “warrior culture” that Pete Kegsbreath is promoting? Yes, but he wants to carry it out in a Christian way. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/3 "2026-05-02T01:12:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes, but he wants to carry it out in a Christian way. You mean like in the Inquisition? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/4 "2026-05-02T02:02:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes, but he wants to carry it out in a Christian way. IOW, the survivors spend eternity in Hell. Xianism is such an optimistic happy worldview. NOT! ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/5 "2026-05-02T02:13:56Z")
Maybe I’m just a pedantic classical history nerd but this is not shocking to me. It bugs me when people use decimated to mean just “largely destroyed”. One random fact I just heard (or was reminded of as I’m re-listening to the excellent History of Rome podcast) is the Emperor Galba was deposed and murdered because (among other things) he decided to actually carry out decimation on some rebellious marines. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/6 "2026-05-02T02:44:08Z")
This was what my World History X teacher in high school, Dr. Broderick, taught me - the classical “every 10th person” definition - but I don’t find it very credible. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/7 "2026-05-02T02:49:26Z")
Why do you doubt it? That’s certainly something I learned at some point as well - to “decimate” means to kill every tenth soldier as a form of discipline. It does appear (from a quick Wiki reading) that the earliest Roman traditions may be false, but its seems to have definitely happened under Antony and others. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/8 "2026-05-02T02:59:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > It bugs me when people use decimated to mean just “largely destroyed”. Even though it’s meant this for longer than your lifetime? For literally hundreds of years? Does it bug you if people are quarantined for fewer than 40 days? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/9 "2026-05-02T03:14:16Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Maybe I’m just a pedantic classical history nerd but this is not shocking to me. It bugs me when people use decimated to mean just “largely destroyed”. Words change meaning over the years. There’s a scene in the first J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie where Captain Kirk says something like, “I’ve got your gun.” to a Romulan. A friend of mine complained that Kirk used an anachronistic word like gun. It’s not like Star Fleet is using firearms, right? The word gun as we use it today doesn’t mean the same thing it meant in the 14th century. So why should it mean exactly the same thing in the 24th century? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/10 "2026-05-02T03:26:25Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Does it bug you if people are quarantined for fewer than 40 days It didn’t but now it will 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/11 "2026-05-02T05:14:35Z")
Yeah the TV show “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” had an episode called “Decimation” where they did this. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/12 "2026-05-02T05:35:32Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > It does appear (from a quick Wiki reading) that the earliest Roman traditions may be false, but its seems to have definitely happened under Antony and others. It was probably a story based on an apocryphal legend but then the Roman Empire was around for so long that eventually a general who grew up hearing the legend decided to carry it out. A few more modern examples have occurred as well, again because these generals grew up on stories about Rome doing it. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/13 "2026-05-02T12:35:44Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > It bugs me when people use decimated to mean just “largely destroyed”. Is there a word for the reciprocal of “decimate”? I’ve wanted a term like that several times recently. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/14 "2026-05-02T13:10:57Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > then the Roman Empire was around for so long that eventually a general who grew up hearing the legend decided to carry it out. It happened in the early empire with Galba (who took the purple after Nero’s death so pretty early), as I mentioned though it was so shocking even at that point (and even though it was carried out for mutiny not just cowardice) it was one of the reasons he only lasted seven months before getting assassinated. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/15 "2026-05-02T13:12:30Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > You mean like in the Inquisition? I wouldn’t expect that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/16 "2026-05-02T13:13:47Z")
Nobody ever does. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/17 "2026-05-02T13:43:18Z")
But it’s here, and it’s here to stay. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/18 "2026-05-02T13:44:30Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > There’s a scene in the first J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie where Captain Kirk says something like, “I’ve got your gun.” to a Romulan. A friend of mine complained that Kirk used an anachronistic word like gun. It’s not like Star Fleet is using firearms, right? The word gun as we use it today doesn’t mean the same thing it meant in the 14th century. So why should it mean exactly the same thing in the 24th century? Gun is a broad church; it can mean spray gun, or water gun, or nail gun; the concept is not confined to firearms. The bigger problem with laser guns and phasers is how they retain enough charge to cause damage while still being hand-held. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/19 "2026-05-02T13:49:31Z")
And if they’ve got non-negligible energy conversion inefficiency, they’d almost instantly become too hot to hold onto. But the Rule of Cool carries the day. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710/20 "2026-05-02T14:01:05Z")
I knew that it meant “kill one tenth”, but this is the first I’ve heard that the punishment was supposed to be carried out by the other nine-tenths of the decimated unit. That part, I do doubt, because the Romans weren’t idiots when it came to warfare, and that’s a great way to get the guy giving the order fragged. And forcing the members of a unit to kill each other is the exact opposite of discipline. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fighting-etymological-tidbit-what-decimate-really-meant-in-ancient-rome/1029710.md?page=2)