'Decimate' seems to have changed it's meaning...

[BadlyHungBoy]

I know that words change their meaning with use and, in the end, they mean what people understand them to mean, but is there a word that actually means 'to reduce to one tenth' rather than 'reduce by one tenth'?

[Quizmonster]

'Decimate' always meant to reduce by one tenth, based on the old military punishment of killing every tenth man in a regiment deemed guilty of some crime such as mutiny.

Only very rarely has the word ever been used to mean to reduce to one tenth. However, it has been so used and thus you might still do that, though you would need to make it clear to the person addressed that that is what you mean.

[BadlyHungBoy]

Hi QM, the other day I heard (on the BBC!) something to the effect of: "The coal industry was LITERALLY (my caps) decimated in the 80s - a workforce of 200,000 is now 20,000" I just wondered if there is, or has ever been, a word that literally means "to reduce by 90%"

[Quizmonster]

Here's a relevant quote, BHB, from a book published in 1867 about the Norman Conquest: "...a systematic decimation of the surviving male adults. By decimation is here meant the slaying, not of one out of ten, but of nine out of ten."

As I said earlier, the word may be used to mean what you want it to mean, but it is a rarity. Consequently, you would have to do exactly the same as the 1867 writer did...ie tell the reader/listener what you mean. Other than that, I know of no single-word alternative...sorry.

[BadlyHungBoy]

Thanks for that quote QM. I honestly didn't know that decimate could be used in either way : I suppose I should have known to trust the Beeb!