Word
decade
US/ˈdɛkeɪd/
UK/dˈɛkeɪd/
Definitions
01ten years
n. a period of ten years.
n. a period of ten consecutive years, often used to categorise historical eras.
“The city has changed a lot over the last decade.”
“The economic reforms introduced in the previous decade have finally begun to yield measurable improvements in the national standard of living.”
General-service
02a group of ten
n. a group or set of ten things.
n. a set, series, or group of ten items.
“The poet divided the long work into several decades of verses.”
“The manuscript was organised into decades, with each section containing ten distinct chapters on the history of the region.”
Literary · Archaic
Synonyms
03ratio of ten to one
n. the difference between two numbers where one is ten times larger than the other.
n. the interval between two quantities having a ratio of ten to one, frequently used on logarithmic scales.
“The frequency range of the device covers more than one decade.”
“The amplifier maintains a flat response over three decades of frequency, ensuring high fidelity across the entire audible spectrum.”
Technical · Academic
Synonyms
04electronics component
n. a part in a machine that lets you choose values in steps of ten.
n. a set of electrical components, such as resistors, arranged to provide increments in powers of ten.
“He adjusted the decade box to change the resistance in the circuit.”
“The laboratory used a precision decade capacitor to calibrate the sensors before the start of the high-voltage experiment.”
Technical
Etymology
From Middle English decade, from Old French decade, from Late Latin decādem (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”). In reference to a span of ten years, originally a clipping of the phrase decade of years. By surface analysis, dec- + -ade. Doublet of decad and dekad.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.