decimal system
noun
1
: a number system that uses a notation in which each number is expressed in base 10 by using one of the first nine integers or 0 in each place and letting each place value be a power of 10
2
: a system of measurement or currency in which the basic units increase by powers of 10
Examples of decimal system in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Our decimal system seems simple by comparison, with just 10 digits from 0 to 9 to express every number imaginable.
—
Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 18 July 2025
Another column dances around multiples of 10, the all-important core of our modern decimal system: 11, 21, 19, 9.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Sep. 2024
Stokes and Collins had invented a new way to catalogue the Broad Institute’s million-molecule library—a kind of deep-learning Dewey decimal system.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
Our familiar base 10 decimal system uses the 10 digits from zero to 9.
—Quanta Magazine, 9 Aug. 2024
In cultures attuned to the decimal system, a 50-day period always possesses some resonance.
—Martin Weil, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2024
Today's numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system.
—Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023
Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system.
—Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023
So what if there was a memory librarian who had a whole Dewey decimal system of people’s past identities?
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2023
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Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 18 July 2025
Another column dances around multiples of 10, the all-important core of our modern decimal system: 11, 21, 19, 9.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Sep. 2024
Stokes and Collins had invented a new way to catalogue the Broad Institute’s million-molecule library—a kind of deep-learning Dewey decimal system.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
Our familiar base 10 decimal system uses the 10 digits from zero to 9.
—Quanta Magazine, 9 Aug. 2024
In cultures attuned to the decimal system, a 50-day period always possesses some resonance.
—Martin Weil, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2024
Today's numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system.
—Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023
Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system.
—Amory Tillinghast-Raby, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2023
So what if there was a memory librarian who had a whole Dewey decimal system of people’s past identities?
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Decimal system.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimal%20system. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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