decade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A period of ten years.

   The town has changed dramatically over the past decade.

2. 2
   noun

   A particular ten-year span, such as the 1960s.

   The 1960s was a turbulent decade.

Simplified etymology

Decade has at its root Greek deka “ten.” A book by the Roman historian Livy was divided into ten parts, and the name for each division was translated into English as decade. The earliest English uses referred to sections of a similar literary work; the sense “period of ten years” appeared in the early 17th century.

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.

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