decima

plural decimas

1. A tenth, particularly
   1. generally obsoleteA tithe or tax of one-tenth (now usually in historical Italian contexts).

      He brandished his title as apostolic commissioner in court, and as supervisor of the papal decima in Tuscany.

      1988, Renaissance Studies, volume 2, page 195

      Synonyms: tenth

   2. obsoletegenerally obsoleteentertainmentA tenth: a note nine degrees of the scale above or below a given note (and thus ten degrees separate counting inclusively) or the interval between such notes.

      Synonyms: tenth

   3. generally obsoleteentertainmentAn organ stop a tenth above the normal 8-foot pitch.

      Synonyms: double-tierce, great-tierce

plural decimas · alternative décima

1. communicationsA 10-line verse or stanza, (chiefly) in the form of a song comprising an introductory verse followed by four such divisions.

   His album... dealt with the song form of Puerto Rican back-country troubadours, and it had a preoccupation with... the décima, a 10-line stanza with specific rhyme schemes.

   2008 December 4, New York Times, C8

1. Romanhuman sciencesOne of the three Fates, or Parcae, daughter of Jupiter and Justitia; the measurer of the thread of life. She is the Roman equivalent of Lachesis.