deca-

See also: deca, deçà, déca, and déca-

English

Latin number prefix

10	Previous:	nona-
	Next:	undeca-

Greek number prefix

10	Previous:	ennea-
	Next:	hendeca-

SI prefix

da	Previous:	deci-
	Next:	hecto-

Alternative forms

• dec- (before a vowel)
• deka-, dek-

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥

Proto-Hellenic *dékə

Ancient Greek δέκᾰ (dékă)

Ancient Greek -ᾰ́ς (-ắs)

Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás)der.

Late Latin decasder.

French déca-bor.

English deca-

Borrowed from French déca-, from Late Latin decas (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛkə-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Prefix

deca-

1. Ten.

   Synonym: deci- (Latin-derived counterpart)

   ‎deca- + ‎-gon → ‎decagon

2. In the metric system, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10. Symbol: da

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with deca-

decadic

decaampere

decangle

decarch

decadarchy

decabillion

decabillionaire

decaborane

decaborate

decabromide

decacalcium

decacarbide

decacarbonate

decacarbonyl

decachloride

decachlorobiphenyl

decacopper

decacore

decacorn

decacyclic

decacanth

decachotomy

decamillennial

duodeca-

enneadeca-

decafluoride

decaglycine

decagon

decagram

decagramme

decahedral

decahedron

decaheme

hexadeca-

decahistidine

decahydrate

decahydrated

decahydride

decahydroisoquinoline

decahydronaphthalene

decahydroquinoline

decahydroxy

decillion

decakatal

decaketide

decalead

decalingual

decaliter

decalitre

decalobate

Decalogue

decalogy

decalumen

decamer

decameride

decameter

decamethylcyclopentasiloxane

decamethonium

decametre

decamillennium

decamillion

decamillionaire

decamired

decanitride

nonadeca-

decanormal

decanucleotide

decomino

decaose

decaoxide

decaoxo

decaparsec

decapartite

decapeptide

decaphobia

decaphosphate

decaphosphorus

decaplet

decaploid

decaploidy

decapod

decapoise

decapolar

decaprenyl

decarepeat

decasaccharide

decasecond

decasepalous

decasodium

decastere

decastyle

decasulfide

decasulphide

decasyllabic

decasyllabicity

decasyllable

tessaradecad

tesseradecade

tetradeca-

decatetraene

decatonic

trideca-

decatungsten

decavalent

decavanadate

decawatt

Translations

ten

• Belarusian: дэка- (deka-)
• Bulgarian: дека- (deka-)
• Czech: deseti- (cs)
• Dutch: deca- (nl)
• Finnish: deka- (fi)
• French: déca- (fr)
• Galician: deca- (gl)
• German: deka- (de)
• Greek: δεκα- (deka-)
• Hindi: दश- (daś)
• Indonesian: dasa-, deka-
• Polish: deka- (pl)
• Portuguese: deca- (pt)
• Russian: дека- (ru) (deka-)
• Spanish: deca- (es)
• Thai: ทศ- (th) (tót-sà)

used to multiply the unit it is attached to by 10

• Belarusian: дэка- (deka-)
• Bulgarian: дека- (deka-)
• Czech: deka- (cs)
• Dutch: deca- (nl)
• Finnish: deka- (fi)
• French: déca- (fr)
• Galician: deca- (gl)
• German: deka- (de)
• Greek: δεκα- (deka-)
• Hungarian: deka- (hu)
• Indonesian: deka-
• Malay: deka- (ms)
• Polish: deka- (pl)
• Portuguese: deca- (pt)
• Russian: дека- (ru) (deka-)
• Spanish: deca- (es)
• Thai: เดคา- (dee-kaa)
• Vietnamese: đê-ca, đề-ca

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} дека- (deka-)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 十- (zh) (shí) (1)

• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} デカ- (deka)
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} dasa-

See also

• Thesaurus:number

Further reading

• “deca-, comb. form”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• -cade, CEDA, Cade, aced, cade, dace, ecad

Dutch

SI prefix

da	Previous:	deci-
	Next:	hecto-

Etymology

Borrowed from French déca-, from Late Latin decas (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdeː.kaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

deca-

1. deca-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with deca-

decagram

decaliter

decameter

decaseconde

Italian

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”).

Prefix

deca-

1. deca-

Anagrams

• cade, ceda

Portuguese

SI prefix

da	Previous:	deci-
	Next:	hecto-

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.ka/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.kɐ/

• Hyphenation: de‧ca-

Prefix

deca-

1. deca-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with deca-

decatleta

decavô

decalitro

decápode

See also

• deca
• decá

Further reading

• “deca-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “deca-”, in Dicionário Eletrônico Houaiss [Houaiss Electronic Dictionary] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: UOL, 2004–2026
• “deca-”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “deca-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”).

Prefix

deca-

1. deca-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with deca-

decagramo

decalitro

decámetro

decaedro

Further reading

• “deca-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025