▪ I. decarch, dek-, n. Gr. Hist.
(ˈdɛkɑːk)
[ad. Gr. δεκάρχ-ης or *δέκαρχος, f. δέκα ten + -αρχης, -αρχος ruler.]
One of a ruling body of ten.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Decarck, the same with Dearck [‘a Captain or Governor of ten’]. 1849 Grote Greece ii. lxxii. (1862) VI. 350 As at Athens..the Dekarchs would begin by putting to death notorious political opponents. |
▪ II. decarch, dek-, a. Bot.
(ˈdɛkɑːk)
[f. Gr. δέκα ten + ἀρχή beginning, origin.]
Proceeding from ten distinct points of origin: said of the primary xylem (or wood) of the root.
| 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 350 In the two species mentioned [Lycopodium clavatum, Alpinum] the xylem is hexarch to dekarch, very often heptarch. |