Most people are used to determining and calculating time using the well-known words “day”, “week”, “month”, “year”. But sometimes you can meet with less commonly used time units. Let's talk about one of them. So what is a decade and in what cases is the word used?
Value
Decade literally means a period of time consisting of ten days. The original Russian “ten days” and “third of the month” will be synonyms. Based on this, it will not be difficult to understand what the decade of the month is. However, there are cases of the use of this word in the meaning of "ten years." In ancient times, the concept was more common than in now, but because the origins and origin of this word must be sought in antiquity. So, in the ancient Greek language, the word “ten” sounds like “deka”, or “dekados”, in Latin - “decam”. In any case, there is a consonance of these words with the Russian decade , which explains its origin.
What is a decade in English? The word "decade" can be both a noun and an adjective. It can mean both a time period of ten days or years, and a part consisting of ten sections in a literary work.
History of use
As already mentioned, in the ancient world the word "decade" was widespread. It could mean not only ten days or years, but also ten people, soldiers, units of cattle and any objects.
The fact is that the word means 10, and it has some advantages over 7, 12, 24, which are used to measure time. Already in ancient times, people understood that it was more convenient to count tens, therefore it was the decimal number system that became so popular. This is understandable: ten fingers, and a clear demonstration of computational operations simplified their understanding and implementation.
What does the decade represent?
Representatives of early mathematical schools did not separate exact knowledge from esoteric. For example, the Pythagoreans endowed numbers with certain properties that describe the phenomena, people, and events of the world around them, and this knowledge is partially used today by numerologists and people who understand the Tarot card system.
It is believed that each development cycle has nine phases: 1 - the beginning of the movement, 2 - emotional participation, 3 - growth and expansion, 4 - stability, a sense of foundation, 5 - change, discontent, 6 - creativity and reward, 7 - the challenge of the world , flexibility, 8 - recovery, maturity, 9 - accumulation and abundance.
Next comes the number 10, which is a bridge, a transition that combines the previous nine phases of the cycle and the beginning of a new life stage. Such a “borderline” position of dozens is not accidental. From the point of view of numerologists, ten is not an independent number, since it can be reduced to unity by adding the components: 10 = 1 + 0 = 1.
Decade in everyday life
The concept of a decade is found in the fields of finance and statistics, in mathematics, physics and electronics. What is the first decade of the month, you can intuitively understand by listening to the weather forecast or by reading the gardener's calendar. In the first decade of the month weather forecasters can promise warming, in the second it will be recommended to plant plants in the ground.
What is a decade, astrologers are well aware, who divide the zodiac into three equal parts every month (ten days each). Proceeding from the principle “the beginning is stronger than the end”, astrologers ascribe to Taurus, born in the first decade (April 21-30), pronounced earthly qualities (industriousness, perseverance, authority), in the second (May 10-10) - moderate qualities (creative abilities , stability, the ability to maintain balance in everything), in the third (May 11 - 21) - transitional qualities, when Taurus acquires the properties of the next zodiac sign - talkative and moving Gemini.
Thus, it is useful to learn not only what a decade is, but also to get acquainted with the origin of a new word, the history and scope of its use, as well as its meanings among other peoples. A comprehensive study of the issue allows you to learn a lot of interesting things for yourself, to penetrate into the deep essence of objects and phenomena that surround us in everyday life.