Definition of "decade"

decade

/ˈdɛkeɪd/

noun
plural decades
1. A group, set, or series of ten , particularly:
  1. A period of ten years
    Quotations
    The repeated exposure, over decades, to most taxa here treated has resulted in repeated modifications of both diagnoses and discussions, as initial ideas of the various taxa underwent—often repeated—conceptual modification.
    1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page viii
    Thru May: 1920s — The Decade That Roared. New exhibition portraying historical events and everyday life during the Roaring Twenties.
    1979 December, “Museums”, in Texas Monthly, volume 7, number 12, page 22
    Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades.
    2013 March, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 16 May 2013, page 134
    Some of these employees have been with the company for decades, which made the company's claims that it offers good training, positive management and excellent job security and benefit packages all the more compelling.
    2020 January 2, Paul Stephen, “A great place to work”, in Rail, page 29
  2. (history) particularly those in the ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and French Revolutionary calendars.
    Quotations
    The year was divided up into twelve months renamed after the seasons [...]; each month comprised three ‘decades’ of ten days – with the décadi replacing Sundays as a day of rest; and each day was reconsecrated to a natural product or farming tool or technique.
    2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 481
  3. (literary, archaic) A work in ten parts or books, particularly such divisions of Livy's History of Rome.
  4. (Roman Catholicism) A series of prayers counted on a rosary, typically consisting of an Our Father, followed by ten Hail Marys, and concluding with a Glory Be and sometimes the Fatima Prayer.
  5. Any of the sets of ten sequential braille characters with predictable patterns.
  6. (electronics) A set of ten electronic devices used to represent digits.
2. (electronics) A set of resistors, capacitors, etc. connected so as to provide even increments between one and ten times a base electrical resistance.
3. (physics, engineering) The interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1.