[See more of my NFTs on these OpenSea collections: https://opensea.io/collection/orbitingoutliers, https://opensea.io/collection/isoc and https://opensea.io/collection/quaevolant]

Decimate -

c. 1600, "to select by lot and put to death every tenth man," from Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare "the removal or destruction of one-tenth," from decem "ten" (from PIE root *dekm- "ten").

The killing of one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinous army was a punishment sometimes used by the Romans.

The word has been used (loosely and unetymologically, to the irritation of pedants) since 1660s for "destroy a large but indefinite number of." Related: Decimated; decima

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/decimate)

Submitted FYI.

May you and yours be well and loving life today.

In Lak'ech, JaiChai

*A rare, signed, higher resolution and non-watermarked version of this image is available for download using CBD at: https://creary.net/digitalart/@jaichai/jaichai-decimate-etymology-and-original-digital-a

(JaiChai 28 Jul 2022. Simultaneous multi-site submissions posted. All rights reserved.)