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  

/ -aɪl, ˈdɛsɪl /

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

Also striking: The share owned by the decile of wealthy households that rank just below the top 1% has shrunk slightly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

Among the top decile of DoorDash customers, the frequency of use has increased, and not only for food delivery.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

Once all the neighbourhoods are ranked, they are split into 10 equal groups called deciles, where the first decile is the 3,375 most deprived neighbourhoods and so on.

From BBC • Oct. 30, 2025

The junk-stock portfolio, meanwhile, contains the decile of stocks at the opposite end of these dimensions.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 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