decade

 
Pronunciation: /ˈdɛkeɪd, dɪˈkeɪd/

noun

  • 1a period of ten years: he taught at the university for nearly a decade
  • a period of ten years beginning with a year ending in 0: the fourth decade of the nineteenth century
  • 2each of the five divisions of each chapter of the rosary: a local priest led the mourners in a decade of the rosary
  • 3a range of electrical resistances, frequencies, or other quantities spanning from one to ten times a base value: power per decade of frequency

Derivatives

decadal

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (denoting each of ten parts of a literary work): via Old French and late Latin from Greek deka 'ten'. decade (sense 1) dates from the early 17th century

There are two possible pronunciations for decade: one puts the stress on the dec- while the other puts the stress on the -cade (sounds like decayed). The second pronunciation is disapproved of by some traditionalists but is now regarded as a standard, acceptable alternative.