deca-

1. a combining form meaning “ten,” used in the formation of compound words.

   decapod.

deca-

prefix

1. denoting ten: decagon . In conjunction with scientific units the symbol da is used

deca–

1. A prefix that means “ten,” as in decahedron, a polygon having ten faces.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deca–¹

< Greek deka-, combining form of déka ten; cognate with Latin decem

Word History and Origins

Origin of deca–¹

from Greek deka

Example Sentences

Catellus and Deca have taken on industrial land makeovers in the past.

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The oil company last year engaged real estate companies Catellus Development Corp. and Deca Cos. to evaluate potential future uses for the site and the developers have rolled out their plans after hundreds of meetings with local residents to see what they wanted in their neighborhood.

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The oil company did say last month that it has has engaged real estate companies Catellus Development Corp. and Deca Cos. to evaluate potential future uses for the site.

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Deca has transformed outdated sites to accommodate new technologies.

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Deca didn’t respond to a request for comment about potential uses of the Phillips 66 site and Catullus referred inquiries to Phillips 66.

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When To Use

What does deca- mean?

Deca- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “ten.” It is used occasionally in technical and scientific terms.Deca- comes from Greek déka, meaning “ten.” A related Latin-origin form is deci-, from Latin decimus, “tenth.” Want to learn more? Check out our Words That Use entry for deci-.Despite the similarity between the two forms, it’s important not to confuse deca-, meaning “ten,” with deci-, which means “tenth.” A decagram is ten grams (10 g), but a decigram is one-tenth of a gram (0.1 g).What are variants of deca-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, deca- becomes dec-, as in decathlon. A related prefix is deka-, which is reserved for the naming of metric units.Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use articles for dec- and deka-.