decuman

English

Etymology

From Latin decumanus (“of the tenth, and by metonymy, large”), from decem (“ten”).

Adjective

decuman (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) large; chief; applied to an extraordinary billow, supposed by some to be every tenth in sequence.
   • (Can we date this quote by Gauden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     such decuman billows

2. (historical) Connected with the principal gate of an Ancient Roman camp, near which the tenth cohort of the legion was stationed.

Noun

decuman (plural decumans)

1. (obsolete) An extraordinarily large billow.
   • (Can we date this quote by Lowell and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     the baffled decuman

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “decuman”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• mancude