centesimation en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- sĕn'tēsĭmāʹshən (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˌsɛntiːsɪˈmeɪʃən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From the Latin centēsimātiō, from centēsimō, from centēsimus (“hundredth”); compare quintation, septimation, decimation, vicesimation, and tricesimation.
Meanings
-
(countable, rare, uncountable) The selection by lot of every hundredth man (of an army or group of prisoners or mutineers) for execution.
Sometimes the criminals were decimated by lot, as appears in Polybius, Tacitus, Plutarch, Appian, Dio, Julius Capitolinus, who also mentions a centesimation.
page 413Centesimation…carries only one-tenth the sensation value of “decimation”.
1980, Stephen Spender, Irving Kristol, editors, Encounter, LIV, page 71:1897, The Columbian Cyclopedia VI, “centesimate” To inflict the punishment of centesimation.
Decimate, to select by lot and put to death every tenth man of (a captured army or body of prisoners or mutineers) […] Compare 1/100: centesimation.
1992, Laurence Urdang, Three Toed Sloths and Seven League Boots, page 151:CENTESIMATION, a milder kind of military puniſhment, in caſes of deſertion, mutiny, and the like, when only every hundredth man is executed.
1763, A New and Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, second edition, page 522:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| centesimations | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
5) (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · 20) (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · vicesimation (1 (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · tricesimation (1 (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · septimation (1 (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · quintation (1 (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · decimation (1 (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · 10) (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · 7) (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part) · 30) (proportionate reduction, by single aliquot part)
Relateds
Translations (1)
cy canfediant (execution of every hundredth man)