septimation
Pronunciations (2)
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/sɛptɪˈmeɪʃən/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˈsɛptəmeɪʃən/
Pronunciation notes
- US
Noun
The loss, seizure, destruction, or killing of one seventh (of something or of a group).
Usage- Countable
- Rare
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (2)
To Wilberforce ‘the Sabbath was a delight’ […] O how often, even among those who most punctiliously observe it, does it seem […] an unwelcome exaction, a sort of septimation of time, as grievous as church decimations of property.
We had gone into the enemy’s ground with seven hundred warriors — a little over one hundred of whom were missing when we left it — as, at that time, we could hardly muster six hundred. This septimation of our men was accompanied by a proportionate riddance of such encumbrances of the expedition as wore the shape of women and little ones.
Word forms
septimations