decile

American  

[des-il, -ahyl] / ˈdɛs ɪl, -aɪl /

noun

Statistics.

1. one of the values of a variable that divides the distribution of the variable into ten groups having equal frequencies.

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decile British  

/ ˈdɛsɪl, -aɪl /

noun

1. statistics

   1. one of nine actual or notional values of a variable dividing its distribution into ten groups with equal frequencies: the ninth decile is the value below which 90% of the population lie See also percentile

   2. a tenth part of a distribution

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Etymology

Origin of decile

First recorded in 1880–85; dec- + -ile

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decile

The chart above suggests “you don’t have to worry about margin debt until it starts to get out of control” in that 10th decile, according to Opsal.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

“All in all, the top decile grew its consumer debt at a 10.9% annualized rate while all other households grew theirs at a 2.2% clip, well below 3.6% inflation,” Peta notes.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

The top decile of funds in that PivotalPath index returned nearly 30%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

We are using terms like "highly deprived" and "most deprived" to refer to the group of neighbourhoods in the first decile.

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

Relatively well- off workers in the eighth decile, or 10 percent-sized slice, where earnings are about $20 an hour, are now making 106.6 percent of what they earned in 1973.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich