decade
Americannoun
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a period of ten years.
the three decades from 1776 to 1806.
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a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero.
the decade of the 1980s.
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a group, set, or series of ten.
noun
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a period of ten consecutive years
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a group or series of ten
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of decade
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin decad-, stem of decas, from Greek dekás “group of ten”; equivalent to deca- + -ade 2
Explanation
She was so nervous to see her high school sweetheart at their reunion: it had been a decade (ten years) since she'd seen him at graduation, and she still got butterflies thinking about him. A decade is a period of ten years. Decade contains dec, which is used in words that have to do with tens. The Marty Paich Dectet was a band with ten players. A decahedron is a shape with ten faces. And the decimal system is based on the number ten.
Vocabulary lists containing decade
Perfect Ten: Dec, Cent, Mille
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"The Hunger Games," Chapter 2 Vocabulary
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Word Generation Weekly - Series 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After spending almost a decade on the UK transplant list as his health worsened, Thomas moved back to his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, in 2024, saying the system "wasn't working" for him.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
Within a decade, Hoffman predicts, “many large companies will have digital twins for rank-and-file employees as well.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Scientists proposed this idea, known as inside-out planet formation, about a decade ago, but evidence supporting it has been limited until now.
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
Little is known about whether the proactive cyber deterrence that has defined U.S. elections for much of the past decade remains in place in any other form.
From Salon • May 21, 2026
Some people enjoyed Hubler, some people didn’t, but, by early 2004, what others thought didn’t really matter anymore, because for nearly a decade Howie Hubler had made money trading bonds for Morgan Stanley.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
