Etymograph

English

decuman

Decuman comes from Latin decumānus ‘of the tenth, and by metonymy, large’, from decem ‘ten’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekemreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecem‘ten’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecumānus‘of the tenth, and by metonymy, large’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1869decuman

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekemreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecem‘ten’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecumānus‘of the tenth, and by metonymy, large’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1869decuman

Earliest quotation: 1869, The Cathedral: “Looking up suddenly, I found mine eyes / Confronted…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

ten, century, cent, hundred, dick, decade, sen, den, diner, hectare, tenfold, denier, dwt, deca, 49 more

through Latin decem ‘ten’

dozen, dean, decimal, doyen, dicker, deni, 19 more

Today it means

adj Large; chief; applied to an extraordinary billow, supposed by some to be every tenth in sequence.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ / decuman

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