Dictionaries I consulted list "kill every 10th person" as a second or
third meaning for the word decimate, with the first meaning more generally
to "destroy a great number or proportion of".

The usage note from the American Heritage Dictionary (online, 4th edition,
2006) reads:
"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
group. Sixty-six 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. However, when the meaning
is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing,
as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at
Chernobyl, only 26 percent of the Panel accepts the usage."


R. Michael Medley, Ph.D.
Director, Intensive English Program
  and Professor of English
Eastern Mennonite University
1200 Park Rd. Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Office: (540) 432-4051 Fax: (540) 432-4444
Home: (540) 574-4277  [log in to unmask]
*************************************************
It is one thing to say with the prophet Amos, “Let justice roll down like
mighty waters,” and quite another to work out the irrigation system.
Clearly there is more certainty in the recognition of wrongs than there is
in the prescription for their cure. --William Sloane Coffin

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