decimal (adj.)

c. 1600, "pertaining to a tenth or ten," from Medieval Latin decimalis "of tithes or tenths," from Latin decimus "tenth," from decem "ten" (from PIE root *dekm- "ten"). Applied to Arabic notation before modern use in reference to decimal fractions (fraction whose denominator is a power of 10) emerged 1610s. As a noun from 1640s, "a decimal fraction." Decimal point is by 1711; the use of the point seems to be due to Scottish mathematician John Napier, "Marvellous Merchiston," c. 1619.