“The complaint about the word typically centers on the fact that decimate is used improperly to refer to ‘destroying a large portion of something’, when the ‘true’ meaning of the word is ‘to put to death (or punish) one of every ten’.”
Unfortunately, the “Dictionary” has already rendered your objection irrelevant, just as our “benevolent” SCOTUS and Department of “Justice” have redefined what is right and good for us.
Decimate (Definition 1):
to destroy a great number or proportion of:
The population was decimated by a plague.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decimate?s=t
Notice how few online dictionaries even bother with word etymology now?
Too bad (for them). I reject their fakery.