Erudite Fluther vocabularians, if to ”decimate” is to reduce by one tenth, then what is the commensurate word for reducing by one quarter?
I am looking for the word with the same feel as “decimate”, not just “reduce by one quarter”.
And I know that “decimate” has somewhat deviated from the original Latin root and now is much more generalized, but for the purposes of this Q I am looking for specifics.
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I have done the Google search and come up empty.
To reduce by 50% has 2 words: bisect and halve. A commenter on one site actually pointed out that there is no word meaning to reduce by 25%.
Let’s make one up! Shakespeare did it all the time. I propose “quarteraze” or “quatraze”.
Not to nitpick but decimate means to reduce by 90%. You’re left with 1/10th the original amount. I don’t believe there is a specific term for what you’re describing.
@Hawaii_Jake, yeah, I did the search, too, very frustrating. Damn.
A somewhat facetious suggestion, “cauterize”?
According to some of the entries on this page, to quarter something is to chop it into 4 pieces.
According to this reverse dictionary, quartering can mean reducing by one quarter.
@Brian1946 Well, yeah, but that’s kinda boring. I want something with more flair! More pizazz!!!
Some descriptive phrase, depending on how you’re eliminating the quarter. If you’re following the Roman example and executing 1/10 of your soldiers to make an example, you could say, “kill every fourth soldier!”
Can’t think of one. You would think there would be one. I wonder if there is a word in other languages. All that comes to mind is phrases like “reduce by one quarter” or “reduce by 25% Or, the reverse could be “X is now 75% of its original state.”
Decimate is a difficult word to use even in context, because it is more commonly used to mean destroy, pummel, annihilate, massacre, just to name a few synonyms that come to mind. Its more commonly known definition is the opposite of the definition you are using, even though your definition is also accurate. English is so confusing. Lol.
“quartern – a fourth part (as a unit of measurement)” -from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.
For your use, to reduce by a quartern. I would even offer a made up word, quartermate, to use my poetic invention skills. Used in sufficient context, it should be understood.
@mazingerz88 Hahaha, that sounds like one performs unnatural acts with quadrupeds. The dog is giving you the side-eye.
… drawn and quartered – someone becomes four smaller pieces
I thought they only used 4 ropes.
^^ 2 arms + 2 legs + 1 body with head, gross I know. = 5 parts total. See, I’m using my head.
Fun to invent words. Decimate is strong, because the back story is silent(the loss of one tenth is just an archaic fact – short for BRUTAL).
Unless I was characterizing a new brutal policy of eliminating a quarter of a group, I would just leave it as the meaning is not tied to the fraction in modern language. Still, such a policy would be a “quarter-decimation”.
“One fourth decimated” “decimated by a fourth”
But @Ltryptophan the root of “decimated” is deci or tenth so decimated by a fourth would not make sense.
@janbb, decimated has lost this meaning in modern times. It now means destroyed without any implication of what fractional degree of destruction. So, I recommended this combination which naturally suggests the fractional degree of destruction.
Otherwise, since there is no well known ancient tradition of culling a quarter of some group, and you invent a word based on the quarter fraction it will be odd to use.
Decimated is not commonly understood to be associated with “10” anymore like decimeter rightly does, or decathlon. See quadrathlon… a term which exists, but even if it didn’t – it would be easy to conjecture the meaning.
Quadrimated sounds absurd, and I might think something was being divided rather than destroyed.
Any severe destruction qualifies to be called decimation. No need to invent an arcane new term. Specify the degree of destruction for emphasis explicitly if the quarter important.
@Ltryptophan Which is why I specified, in the details, exactly what I was going for.
” And I know that “decimate” has somewhat deviated from the original Latin root and now is much more generalized, but for the purposes of this Q I am looking for specifics.”
Yeah, I answered respecting your question without dismissing your request.
@janbb seems to have missed my point: Decimate is the right word, and describing the exact degree of destruction is the best solution.
Oh, ffs, @Ltryptophan, it was a General question, asking for specifics. Which @janbb knew and respected. Your rather arrogant assumption that she didn’t understand you is just silly, as she is one of the best educated and most intuitive people on this site. <eyeroll>.
Wow. What did you decide was the term you think fits?
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