Fun Word Fact – Decimate

The term decimate’s original definition was “to kill one in 10”. The practice was used by the Roman army in the fifth century BC as a way to inspire fear and loyalty. If any of a cohort’s soldiers acted cowardly or deserted, then lots were drawn and one unlucky soldier out of every 10 in that cohort would be killed by their own comrades. WTF Fun Facts

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army)


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1 thought on “Fun Word Fact – Decimate”

  1. To be a bit nitpicky: Untrue. Decimation is an English word and wasn’t used in Rome. True would be if it said it ‘decimation goes back to the Latin word decimatio which meant…’. It even says so in your quoted source.

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