deca-, dec-
Gr. δεκα- ten, an initial element in numerous technical words: see below. Also
1. decaˈcanthous a. [Gr. ἄκανθα thorn], having ten spines (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1882). deca-ˈcarbon a. Chem. in decacarbon series, the series of hydrocarbon compounds containing C10, as decane, decene, decine, decyl, q.v. ‖ Deˈcacera n. pl. Zool. [Gr. κέρας, κερατ- horn], a name proposed by some naturalists for the ten-armed cephalopods, otherwise called Decapoda. deˈcacerate (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1882), deˈcacerous a., ten-horned, pertaining to the Decacera. decaˈdactylous a. Zool., having ten rays or fingers (Syd. Soc. Lex.). decaˈdianome Math. [Gr. διανοµή distribution, dianome], a quartic surface (dianome) having ten conical points. ˈdecafid a. [L. -fidus -cleft] = decemfid (Syd. Soc. Lex.). ˈdecalet nonce-wd. [after triplet], a stanza of ten lines. deˈcalobate a. [Gr. λοβός lobe], ten-lobed. deˈcamerous a. [Gr. µέρος part], consisting of ten parts or divisions, decempartite (Syd. Soc. Lex.). deˈcameter nonce-wd. [Gr. µέτρον measure], a verse consisting of ten metrical feet. deˈcangular a. [L. angulus, corner], having ten angles = decagonal. deˈcantherous a. Bot. [anther], having ten anthers. decaˈpartite a. = decempartite: see decem-. decaˈpetalous a. Bot. [petal], having ten petals (Syd. Soc. Lex.). decaˈphyllous a. Bot. [Gr. ϕύλλον leaf], ten-leaved. decapteˈrygious a. Ichth. [πτερύγιον fin], having ten fins; so decapteˈrygian a. and n. decaˈsemic (-ˈsiːmɪk) a. [cf. the Gr. comp. τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάσηµος, f. σῆµα mark, sign], consisting of ten units of metrical measurement as a ‘decasemic colon’. decaˈsepalous a. Bot. [sepal], having ten sepals. decaˈspermal, -ˈspermous a. Bot. [Gr. σπέρµα seed], having ten seeds.
| 1874 Salmon Analyt. Geom. Three Dim. (ed. 3) 507 Decadianome. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. iv. §4. 274 A flower with Ten carpels or Ten styles is Decagynous. 1882 Vines Sachs's Bot. 654 Whorls dimerous to octamerous..or pentamerous and decamerous. 1821 Blackw. Mag. X. 387 They might have appeared as decameters, had that structure of verse pleased the eyes of the compositor. 18.. Lee (cited by Webster 1828), Decangular. 1879 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. II. 197 The vaulting, having its sides divided..making in all a decapartite vault. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot. s.v., Decaphyllus calyx, a decaphyllous or ten-leaved calyx; as in Hibiscus. 1847 Craig, Decapterygians, a name given by Schneider to an artificial division of fishes, including such as have ten fins. Ibid., Decaspermal, Decaspermous, containing ten seeds, as the berry of Psidium decaspermum. |
2. esp. in the nomenclature of the French metric system, the initial element in names of measures and weights, composed of ten times the standard unit of the series in question. (Cf. deci-.) Hence, ˈdecagramme, -gram (F. décagramme), the weight of 10 grammes (= 154.32349 troy grains, or .353 oz. avoird.). decalitre (ˈdɛkəliːtə(r)), [F. déca-], a measure of capacity, containing 10 litres (= 610.28 cubic inches, or a little over 21/5 gallons). decametre (ˈdɛkəmiːtə(r)), [F. déca-], a lineal measure of 10 metres (= 32 ft. 9.7079 inches Eng.). decastere (ˈdɛkəstiːə(r)), [F. décastère], a solid measure = 10 steres or cubic metres. Also † decare (obs.), a measure of 10 ares = 1000 square metres.
| 1810 Naval Chron. XXIV. 301-2. [Has decagram, decalittre, decameter, decar.] 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 417 Decametre signifies ten metres. Ibid. 419 Kiliare..Hectare..Decare. 1860 All Year Round No. 69. 448 A decalitre..would contain a hundred thousand grains [of wheat]. 1890 Daily News 10 Dec. 3/3 He then brought up the dose of lymph to two decagrammes, a potent one. |
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Add: [1.] ˈdecamer Chem. and Biochem., a compound whose molecule is formed from ten monomers; also, a molecule of such a compound.
| 1946 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LXVIII. 359/1 A series of cyclic polymers increasing by units of (CH3)2SiO have been isolated up to the *decamer. 1984 Biophysical Jrnl. XLV. 248a, Octopus hemocyanin exists in vivo as a 51S decamer of 11S subunits. |
hence decaˈmeric a.
| 1960 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 3611 The *decameric phosphonitrilic fluoride..boils only 1.2° below perfluorohexadecane. 1979 Dokladȳ Akademii Nauk SSSR CCXLIX. 8 (heading) Mass spectra and the structure of octa- and decameric organosylsesquioxanes. |
decaˈmetric a. Astrophysics, consisting of or producing radio waves with a wavelength between 10m and 100m (i.e. a frequency between 3 and 30MHz).
| 1960 Science 28 Oct. 1250/3 Since the spring of 1960 a strong positive correlation between Jupiter's *decametric emission and solar decametric continuum emission observed at Boulder has been evident. 1978 Nature 26 Jan. 313/1 This approach has been adopted by Melrose who suggests the same mechanism may explain the similar radiation from Jupiter in the decametric band. 1984 Radio Sci. XIX. 556/1 Jovian decametric radiation, or DAM, has been observed by ground-based radio astronomers at selected frequencies since the 1950s. |
decaˈpeptide Biochem. [ad. G. Decapeptid (E. Fischer 1906, in Ber. Deut. Chem. Ges. XXXIX. 2904)], any peptide composed of ten amino-acid residues.
| 1908 R. H. A. Plimmer Chem. Constitution of Proteins II. 31 The compound bromisocapronyl-diglycyl-glycyl chloride can be obtained, and by condensing it with the esters of amino acids and of polypeptides Fischer has prepared a hexa-, a hepta-, and a *deca-peptide. 1929 Mitchell & Hamilton Biochem. of Amino Acids i. 93 Decapeptide: leucyl-octaglycyl-glycine. 1956 Nature 17 Mar. 527/2 Its amino-acid composition was consistent with a decapeptide structure. 1984 Peptides V. 865 The decapeptide form of human gastrin releasing peptide was isolated from acid extracts of liver tissue containing a metastatic human bronchial carcinoid tumor. |