# decade

/ˈdɛkeɪd/ (US) · /dˈɛkeɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/decade
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. ten years

noun · CEFR B1 · General-service

a period of ten years.

For teachers: 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.

### 2. a group of ten

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary · Archaic

a group or set of ten things.

For teachers: 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.

### 3. ratio of ten to one

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical · Academic

the difference between two numbers where one is ten times larger than the other.

For teachers: 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.

### 4. electronics component

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a part in a machine that lets you choose values in steps of ten.

For teachers: 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.

## Examples

- The town changed a lot over the last decade.
- It took nearly a decade of hard work for the scientist to finish her research project.
- The rapid advancement of digital technology over the previous decade has fundamentally altered how we communicate and consume media on a global scale.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.