decade
[dek-eyd; British also duh-keyd]
- a period of ten years: the three decades from 1776 to 1806.
- a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero: the decade of the 1980s.
- a group, set, or series of ten.
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Origin of decade
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for decade
Contemporary Examples
Yet for a vivid decade or so, sleaze was, somewhat paradoxically, a force for literacy and empowerment.
Who are some younger popular historians that you think will be a lot better known a decade from now?
Who knew that “we shall overcome” meant “we, the few, shall book covers every decade or so, maybe, sometimes, if we are in style.”
Beyoncé has, for close to a decade now, been a deity in entertainment: untouchable, successful, divine.
Bow Down, Bitches: How Beyoncé Turned an Elevator Brawl Into a Perfect YearKevin Fallon
December 31, 2014
For over a decade, those trying to make better sunscreen found a roadblock at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella ProductiveBen Jacobs
December 29, 2014
Historical Examples
This period, beginning with 1840, has been styled "a memorable decade" in the history of Parliament.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
In a decade of our time, we had pillaged Kygpton of every particle of Sthalreh.
Raiders of the UniversesDonald Wandrei
From decade to decade distinct advances of the frontier occurred.
The Frontier in American HistoryFrederick Jackson Turner
The decade of the forties was also the period of Iowa's rapid increase.
The Frontier in American HistoryFrederick Jackson Turner
North Dakota's development was greatest in the decade prior to 1890.
The Frontier in American HistoryFrederick Jackson Turner
decade
- a period of ten consecutive years
- a group or series of ten
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French, from Late Latin decad-, decas, from Greek dekas, from deka ten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for decade
n.
mid-15c., "ten parts" (of anything; originally in reference to the books of Livy), from Middle French décade (14c.), from Late Latin decadem (nominative decas), from Greek dekas (genitive dekados) "group of ten," from deka "ten" (see ten). Meaning "period of ten years" is 1590s in English.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper