decade

noun

de·​cade ˈde-ˌkād 

de-ˈkād;

especially sense 1b ˈde-kəd

1

: a group or set of 10

It isn't to be done in a day of course, nor yet in a century, —nor in a decade of centuries …

—Anthony Trollope

: 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

Under Swiss law, euthanasia—where a doctor actively administers a lethal drug—is banned, but assisted suicide has been allowed for decades so long as there is no selfish or profit motive and the person who has chosen to die is of sound mind and carries out the final act themselves. —Simon Crerar, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Dec. 2025

The pink ball is by far the newest type — it was only cleared for use in Test cricket a decade ago — and is therefore treated with the most mistrust. —Matt Roller, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025

With four decades under their belt, the Lenos appeared in good spirits at the premiere of Netflix's Unfrosted in 2024. —Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 30 Nov. 2025

With Stalin’s backing, Lysenko purged scientists who disagreed with him and set the country’s once preëminent genetics research back by decades. —Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2025

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

Rhymes for decade

• afraid
• allayed
• arcade
• arrayed
• assayed
• barmaid
• betrayed
• blockade
• bridesmaid
• brigade
• brocade
• buffeted

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