Definition:Number Prefixes/10/Deca-

Definition

The prefix deca- denotes $10$.

Also defined as

The prefix deca- is also used for the Système Internationale d'Unités metric scaling prefix denoting a multiplier of $10^1$.

However, this is easily confused with deci-.

Hence deka- is specifically preferred by $\mathsf{Pr} \infty \mathsf{fWiki}$ in this context.

Examples

The prefix deca- can be found in the following contexts:

• decade: a set or ordered tuple with $10$ elements, specifically a period of $10$ years.

• decagon: a polygon with $10$ sides and hence $10$ vertices

• decahedron: a polyhedron with $10$ faces

Also see

• Definition:Deka-

Linguistic Note

The prefix deca- is from the Late Latin decas (set of ten), from Ancient Greek δέκας (dékas), from δέκα (déka), meaning ten.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): deca-
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): deca-