decemvir
Americannoun
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a member of a permanent board or a special commission of ten members in ancient Rome, especially the commission that drew up Rome's first code of law.
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a member of any council or ruling body of ten.
noun
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(in ancient Rome) a member of a board of ten magistrates, esp either of the two commissions established in 451 and 450 bc to revise the laws
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a member of any governing body composed of ten men
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of decemvir
1570–80; < Latin, originally plural decemvirī, equivalent to decem ten + virī men
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.
They were attentively listened to by the assembly: the voice of the decemvir was drowned with clamour.
From Roman History, Books I-III by Livius, Titus
But the name of the decemvir still carries terror with it, and the commons waver at the sound.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various
Virginius had returned to the camp, where the soldiers, having heard of the fall of the decemvir, proceeded to hit him, as usual, when down, renouncing the authority of Appius and his colleagues.
From The Comic History of Rome by Becket, Gilbert Abbott ?
Could he be a decemvir, he could also be a consul.
From Public Lands and Agrarian Laws of the Roman Republic by Stephenson, Andrew
To them the assembly pays attention, they drown with clamour the voice of the decemvir.
From The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livius, Titus
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.
