Psycho-Babble Politics Thread 898677

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Decuman

Posted by fayeroe on May 31, 2009, at 21:05:31

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

decuman

PRONUNCIATION:
(DEK-yoo-muhn)

MEANING:
adjective: Very large.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin decumanus, variant of decimanus (of the tenth), from decimus (tenth), from decem (ten). The word was often applied to waves from the belief that every tenth wave is greater than the others. The word also referred to the main gate of a military camp in ancient Rome. This gate faced away from the enemy and the tenth cohort of the legion was stationed there. A related word is decimate and a dean is, literally speaking, a chief of ten.

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