Dictionary

decade en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• audio Queensland
• (California) audio
• /ˈdekæɪd/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• dĕk'ād (Canada, General-American)
• dəkād' (Canada, General-American)
• /dəˈkeɪd/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈdɛkeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈdɛkeɪd/ (Canada, General-American)
• /dəˈkeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation, dated)
• /ˈdɛkəd/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. A group, set, or series of ten , particularly
   • a decade of soldiers
2. A group, set, or series of ten ▸ A period of ten years , particularly such a period beginning with a year ending in 0 and ending with a year ending in 9.
   • I haven’t seen my cousin in over a decade!
   • We would pick a decade / We wished we could live in instead of this / I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists 2024, “I Hate It Here”, in The Tortured Poets Department, performed by Taylor Swift:
   • The repeated exposure, over decades, to most taxa here treated has resulted in repeated modifications of both diagnoses and discussions, as initial ideas of the various taxa underwent—often repeated—conceptual modification. 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:
   • Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. 2013 March, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 16 May 2013, page 134:
   • The 1960s was a turbulent decade.
   • Some of these employees have been with the company for decades, which made the company's claims that it offers good training, positive management and excellent job security and benefit packages all the more compelling. 2020 January 2, Paul Stephen, “A great place to work”, in Rail, page 29:
   • President Donald Trump likes to boast about the brilliance of his late uncle John Trump, who spent decades as a professor of electrical engineering at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And when speaking about all manner of subjects, the president likes to make up stories filled with dramatic but fictional details. […] First, the president’s uncle died in 1985. Kaczynski was publicly revealed as the Unabomber more than a decade later, in 1996, when he was captured; before that, he had lived as a recluse in the Montana wilderness. 2025 July 16, Daniel Dale, “Fact check: Trump tells fictional story about his uncle and the Unabomber”, in CNN, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2025:
   • Thru May: 1920s — The Decade That Roared. New exhibition portraying historical events and everyday life during the Roaring Twenties. 1979 December, “Museums”, in Texas Monthly, volume 7, number 12, page 22:
3. A group, set, or series of ten ▸ A period of ten days, particularly those in the ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and French Revolutionary calendars.
   • The year was divided up into twelve months renamed after the seasons [...]; each month comprised three ‘decades’ of ten days – with the décadi replacing Sundays as a day of rest; and each day was reconsecrated to a natural product or farming tool or technique. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 481:
4. (archaic, literary) A group, set, or series of ten ▸ A work in ten parts or books, particularly such divisions of Livy's History of Rome.
5. A group, set, or series of ten ▸ A series of prayers counted on a rosary, typically consisting of an Our Father, followed by ten Hail Marys, and concluding with a Glory Be and sometimes the Fatima Prayer.
6. A group, set, or series of ten ▸ Any of the sets of ten sequential braille characters with predictable patterns.
7. A group, set, or series of ten ▸ A set of ten electronic devices used to represent digits.
8. A set of resistors, capacitors, etc. connected so as to provide even increments between one and ten times a base electrical resistance.
9. The interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1.
   • There are decades between 1.8 and 18, between 25 and 250 and between 0.03 and 0.003.

Forms

Deriveds

lost decade · decadeslong · light decade · decadewise · decadeful · decadely · decade counter · decades-long · decade-long · decade box · decadelong · decadist · multidecade · dollar decade · decade long · quintade · cosmological decade · semidecade

Relateds

1700s · 1710s · 1720s · 1730s · 1740s · 1750s · 1760s · 1770s · 1780s · 1790s · aughts · zeros · zeroes · 2000s · 2010s · 2020s · 2030s · 2040s · 2050s · 2060s · 2070s · 2080s · 2090s · noughties · 1800s · 1810s · 1820s · 1830s · 1840s · 1850s · 1860s · 1870s · 1880s · 1890s · Hungry Forties · Gay Nineties · Naughty Nineties · Roaring Twenties · Dirty Thirties · Swinging Sixties · tens · 2200s · 2210s · 2220s · 2230s · 2240s · 2250s · 2260s · 2270s · 2280s · 2290s · 2100s · 2110s · 2120s · 2130s · 2140s · 2150s · 2160s · 2170s · 2180s · 2190s · 1900s · 1910s · 1920s · 1930s · 1940s · 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · teens · twenties · thirties · forties · fifties · sixties · seventies · eighties · nineties · 00s · 10s · 20s · 30s · 40s · 50s · 60s · 70s · 80s · 90s · '00s · '10s · '20s · '30s · '40s · '50s · '60s · '70s · '80s · '90s · decadal · oughts · oneties · 00's · 10's · 20's · 30's · 40's · 50's · 60's · 70's · 80's · 90's

Synonyms

decennary (10 year period) · decennium (10 year period) · decennial (10 year period) · decenniad (10 year period)

Translations (167)

de Jahrzehnt (period of ten years) · es década (series of ten things) · de Dekade (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · da dekade (period of ten years) · et aastakümme (period of ten years) · fr décennie (period of ten years) · pt decênio (period of ten years) · sv dekad (period of ten years) · da årti (period of ten years) · ru деся́ток (series of ten things) · mk десетка (series of ten things) · ja 十年 (period of ten years) · ast década (period of ten years) · cmn 年代 (period of ten years) · gl década (period of ten years) · no tiår (period of ten years) · de Dekade (series of ten things) · za nienzdaih (period of ten years) · gd deichead (period of ten years) · tr onyıl (period of ten years) · no desennium (period of ten years) · vi mười năm (period of ten years) · ms dekad (period of ten years) · vi thập niên (period of ten years) · tr onlu (series of ten things) · se logijahki (period of ten years) · it decade (period of ten days) · se jahkelogeš (period of ten years) · ro deceniu (period of ten years) · gsw Jaarzänt (period of ten years) · ml ദശാബ്ദം (period of ten years) · ta தசாப்தம் (period of ten years) · hy տասնամյակ (period of ten years) · it decina (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · fi kymmenikkö (series of ten things) · vi chục (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · lv desmitgade (period of ten years) · es decenio (period of ten years) · yi יאָרצענדליק (period of ten years) · az onillik (period of ten years) · he עשור (period of ten years) · fi kymmenikkö (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · sk dekáda (period of ten years) · lv gadu desmits (period of ten years) · kmr dehik (series of ten things) · ru дека́да (period of ten days) · ast deceniu (period of ten years) · fr dizaine (series of ten things) · cy degawd (period of ten years) · my ဆယ်စုနှစ် (period of ten years) · vi nhóm mười (series of ten things) · sh dȅsetleće (period of ten years) · aii ܥܣܲܪܬܵܐ (period of ten years) · ceb napuloan (period of ten years) · ar عَقْد (period of ten years) · bg десетилетие (period of ten years) · mnc ᠵᡠᠸᠠᠨ ᠠᠨᡳᠶᠠ (period of ten years) · ga deichniúr (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · ky онжылдык (period of ten years) · pa ਦਹਾਕਾ (period of ten years) · ca dècada (series of ten things) · gl decenio (period of ten years) · id dasarian (period of ten days) · ms dasawarsa (period of ten years) · ceb dekada (period of ten years) · tl dekada (period of ten years) · sh dècēnija (period of ten years) · fo áratíggju (period of ten years) · no dekade (period of ten years) · hu évtized (period of ten years) · la decas (period of ten years) · ru десятиле́тие (period of ten years) · id dasawarsa (period of ten years) · te దశాబ్ది (period of ten years) · as দশক (period of ten years) · sc dècada (period of ten years) · ca dena (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · wa dijhinne (series of ten things) · da decennium (period of ten years) · la decennium (period of ten years) · vo degyel (period of ten years) · el δεκάδα (series of ten things) · ro decadă (series of ten things) · no decennium (period of ten years) · yi צענדליק (series of ten things) · de Dezennium (period of ten years) · bg декада (series of ten things) · uk десятилі́ття (period of ten years) · ka ათწლეული (period of ten years) · no årti (period of ten years) · be дзесяціго́ддзе (period of ten years) · ka ათი წელი (period of ten years) · sv dekad (series of ten things) · pl dekada (period of ten years) · pt década (period of ten years) · th ทศวรรษ (period of ten years) · an dezenio (period of ten years) · lt dešimtãdienis (period of ten days) · io yardeko (period of ten years) · vi chục (series of ten things) · eo jardeko (period of ten years) · hi दशक (period of ten years) · mk деценија (period of ten years) · fi kertaluokka (physics, engineering: interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1) · frr Jaartiint (period of ten years) · sl desetletje (period of ten years) · it decade (electronics: set of resistors, capacitors, etc. connected to provide even increments between one and ten) · eu hamarkada (period of ten years) · sk desaťročie (period of ten years) · fo tíggjuáraskeið (period of ten years) · se logis (series of ten things) · sh де̏сетлеће (period of ten years) · el δεκαετία (period of ten years) · vi bộ mười (series of ten things) · fi dekadi (electronics: set of resistors, capacitors, etc. connected to provide even increments between one and ten) · id dekade (period of ten years) · fi vuosikymmen (period of ten years) · chr ᏍᎪᎯᏈ ᏧᏕᏘᏗ (period of ten years) · sv årtionde (period of ten years) · es década (period of ten years) · cmn 十年 (period of ten years) · sv decennium (period of ten years) · tl sinampu (series of ten things) · is áratugur (period of ten years) · nl decennium (period of ten years) · et kümnend (period of ten years) · hy տասնյակ (series of ten things) · te దశాబ్దము (period of ten years) · nl tiental (series of ten things) · pt dezena (series of ten things) · es decenario (period of ten years) · uk десятирі́ччя (period of ten years) · it decennio (period of ten years) · stq Jiertjaand (period of ten years) · fi dekadi (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · fi dekadi (series of ten things) · gl decena (series of ten things) · pl dziesiątka (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · nl tientje (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · lb Joerzéngt (period of ten years) · haw anahulu (period of ten days) · ckb دەیە (period of ten years) · mk дека́да (period of ten years) · kmr dehik (series of prayers counted on a rosary) · pl dziesiątka (series of ten things) · kl ukiut qulikkuutaat (period of ten years) · vi thập kỷ (period of ten years) · br degad (series of ten things) · it decina (series of ten things) · sh дѐце̄нија (period of ten years) · de Dekade (period of ten years) · cs desítka (series of ten things) · ms dasawarsa (series of ten things) · rm decenni (period of ten years) · sq dhjetëvjetësh (period of ten years) · br dekved (period of ten years) · cs desetiletí (period of ten years) · sw mwongo (period of ten years) · got 𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌿𐍃 (series of ten things) · bg десятка (series of ten things) · fr décade (series of ten things) · pl dziesięciolecie (period of ten years) · ca decenni (period of ten years) · ru десятиле́тка (period of ten years) · kmr dehsal (period of ten years) · bn দশক (period of ten years) · ca dècada (period of ten years)