decimation

English Thesaurus

1. destroying or killing a large part of the population (literally every tenth person as chosen by lot) (noun.act)

hypernym	:	destruction, devastation,
definition	:	the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists (noun.act)

derivation	:	annihilate, carry off, decimate, eliminate, eradicate, extinguish, wipe out,
definition	:	kill in large numbers (verb.change)

derivation	:	annihilate, carry off, decimate, eliminate, eradicate, extinguish, wipe out,
definition	:	kill in large numbers (verb.change)