decade

noun

de·​cade ˈde-ˌkād 

de-ˈkād;

 especially sense 1b  ˈde-kəd

1

: a group or set of 10

his prisoners were divided into decades

—William Godwin

: such as

a

: a period of 10 years

has been teaching for over a decade

the decade of the twenties

b

Roman Catholicism : a division of the rosary that consists primarily of 10 Hail Marys

2

mathematics : a ratio of 10 to 1 : order of magnitude

decadal

ˈde-kə-dᵊl 

adjective

Examples of decade in a Sentence

The war lasted nearly a decade.

The bridge was built a decade ago.

The decade of the 1920s runs from January 1, 1920 to December 31, 1929.

the first decade of the 21st century

There have been a lot of changes during the past two decades.

Recent Examples on the Web

Among Black voters, Trump's favorable rating has nearly doubled, from 11% to 19% − still low, but a warning sign to Democrats who for decades have relied on solid Black support. —Susan Page, USA TODAY, 17 July 2024

Tippett also spent decades working on his own film, the stop-motion nightmare Mad God, which finally saw the light of day in 2022. —Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 16 July 2024

The union donated $45,000 to the RNC convention fund this year, its first major donation to the GOP in decades. —Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 16 July 2024

And this is absolutely in line and fine and common practice for decades. —Ben Morse, CNN, 16 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French décade, from Late Latin decad-, decas, from Greek dekad-, dekas, from deka — see deca-

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing decade

• decade-long

Kids Definition

decade

noun

de·​cade ˈdek-ˌād 

-əd;

de-ˈkād;

 sense 3 is usually  ˈdek-əd

1

: a group or set of 10

2

: a period of 10 years

3

: a part of the rosary made up mainly of 10 Hail Marys