Decade

For other uses, see Decade (disambiguation).

A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived (via French) from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas (ten) and dies (days), which is not correct.^[1] The other words for spans of years come from Latin: lustrum (5 years), century (100 years), millennium (1000 years).

Distinctions

Although any period of 10 years is a decade,^[2][3] a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of the calendar year, as in using "1960s" to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969.^[4][5] Often, for brevity, only the tens part is mentioned (60s or sixties), although this may leave it uncertain which century is meant. These references are frequently used to encapsulate popular culture or other widespread phenomena that dominated such a decade, as in The Great Depression of the 1930s.

Since the common calendar starts from the year 1, its first full decade contained the years from 1 to 10, the second decade from 11 to 20, and so on.^[6] So while the "1960s" comprises the years 1960 to 1969, the "197th decade" spans 1961 to 1970.

A decade may also refer to an arbitrary span of 10 years. For example, the statement "during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time," merely refers to the last 10 years of Mozart's life without regard to which calendar years are encompassed.

Thus, an unqualified reference to, for example, "the decade" or "this decade" may have multiple interpretations depending on the context.

See also

• List of decades
• Century
• Millennium

References

1. ^ Larousse, etymology of decade(French)
2. ^ Oxford dictionary definition of "decade"
3. ^ Webster dictionary definition of "decade"
4. ^ The OWL at Purdue: Apostrophe
5. ^ "1960s". Memidex/Wordnet Dictionary/Thesaurus. http://www.memidex.com/1960s. Retrieved 2011-08-18. 
6. ^ Passim, i.a. Spencer, Donald D. 1989. Invitation to number theory with Pascal. Ormond Beach: Camelot. 46: "The first decade is from 1 to 10 inclusive, the second decade from 11 to 20 inclusive, and so on."

External links

• Definition from Etymology Online

This standards- or measurement-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Units of time Standards and measurement stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Henry Watkin Truck system Look at other dictionaries: décade — [ dekad ] n. f. • 1355; lat. decas, adis, du gr. dekas, ados, de deka « dix » I ♦ 1 ♦ Période de dix jours. Les mois grecs étaient divisés en décades. Hist. La décade républicaine : espace de dix jours qui remplaçait la semaine, dans le… …   Encyclopédie Universelle Decade — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Decade Álbum recopilatorio de Neil Young Publicación 28 de octubre de 1977 Grabación 1966 1976 …   Wikipedia Español Decade — Studioalbum von Neil Young Veröffentlichung 28. Oktober 1977 Label Reprise Records …   Deutsch Wikipedia Decade — Dec ade, n. [F. d[ e]cade, L. decas, adis, fr. Gr. ?, fr. de ka ten. See {Ten}.] A group or division of ten; esp., a period of ten years; a decennium; as, a decade of years or days; a decade of soldiers; the second decade of Livy. [Written also… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English Decade — – Greatest Hits Compilation par Duran Duran Sortie 15 novembre 1989 Enregistrement 1980 1989 Durée 56:05 Genre …   Wikipédia en Français Décade — (fr., v. gr.), 1) 10 Stück, eine Zehn; 2) nach der französisch republikanischen Zeitrechnung ein Abschnitt von 10 Tagen; daher Decadi, der 10. Tag einer Decade im republikanischen Kalender, wie der Sonntag gefeiert; Décadrier (spr. Dekadrich),… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon decade — mid 15c., ten parts (of anything; originally in reference to the books of Livy), from M.Fr. décade (14c.), from L.L. decadem (nom. decas), from Gk. dekas (gen. dekados) group of ten. Meaning period of ten years is 1590s in English …   Etymology dictionary decade — Decade. s. f. Dixaine. Il ne se dit guere que d un ouvrage d esprit, contenant dix livres. Premiere, seconde, troisiesme decade. cette histoire est partagée en tant de decades. les décades de Tite Live …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française Decade — Decade, s. Dekade …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon decade — / dɛkade/ s.f. [da lat. tardo decas ădis, gr. dekás ádos ]. 1. (non com.) [insieme di dieci cose] ▶◀ decina. 2. (estens.) [retribuzione in denaro corrisposta ogni dieci giorni ai soldati] ▶◀ paga, salario. 3. (non com.) [spazio di dieci anni]… …   Enciclopedia Italiana Decade — Nom porté surtout aujourd hui en Guadeloupe, présent aussi dans l Eure et Loir. Son origine géographique réelle est difficile à cerner. Peut être le Centre, où il pourrait désigner celui qui est originaire d un lieu dit (le) Cade (= le genévrier) …   Noms de famille 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”