Decade - wikipedia Decade For other uses, see Decade ( disambiguation ). A decade is a period of ten years. The word is derived ( via French and Latin ) from the Ancient Greek : δεκάς ( / ðɛkˈɑːs /, transliteration = dekas ), which means a group of ten. Other words for spans of years also come from Latin : biennium ( 2 years ), triennium ( 3 years ), quadrennium ( 4 years ), lustrum ( 5 years ), century ( 100 years ), millennium ( 1000 years ). Contents 1 Distinctions 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Distinctions Although any period of ten years is a decade, a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of a calendar year, as in using `` 1960s '' to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969. Often, for brevity, only the tens part is mentioned ( 60s or sixties ), although this may leave it uncertain which century is meant. These references are frequently used to encapsulate popular culture or other widespread phenomena that dominated such a decade, as in The Great Depression of the 1930s. Because the common calendar starts with year 1, its first full decade is the years one to ten, the second decade from 11 to 20, and so on. So although the `` 1960s '' comprises the years 1960 to 1969, the `` 197th decade '' spans 1961 to 1970. A decade may also refer to an arbitrary span of ten years. For example, the statement `` during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time '', merely refers to the last ten years of Mozart 's life without regard to which calendar years are encompassed. For decades of the 20th century, a nominal decade is often used to refer not just to a set of ten years but rather to an era roughly approximating those ten years - for example, the phrase the sixties often refers to events that took place between c. 1964 and 1972, and to memories of the counterculture, flower power, protests of 1968 and other things happening at the time. See also List of decades Century Millennium Year References Jump up ^ `` Oxford Dictionaries ''. askoxford.com. Retrieved 19 January 2015. Jump up ^ Webster dictionary definition of `` decade '' Jump up ^ The OWL at Purdue : Apostrophe Jump up ^ `` 1960s ''. Memidex / Wordnet Dictionary / Thesaurus. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 18. Jump up ^ Passim, i.a. Spencer, Donald D. 1989. Invitation to number theory with Pascal. Ormond Beach : Camelot. 46 : `` The first decade is from one to ten inclusive, the second decade from eleven to twenty inclusive, and so on. '' External links Look up decade in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Decades. Definition from Etymology Online Time measurement and standards Chronometry Orders of magnitude Metrology International standards Coordinated Universal Time offset UT ΔT DUT1 International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service ISO 31 - 1 ISO 8601 International Atomic Time 6 - hour clock 12 - hour clock 24 - hour clock Barycentric Coordinate Time Barycentric Dynamical Time Civil time Daylight saving time Geocentric Coordinate Time International Date Line Leap second Solar time Terrestrial Time Time zone 180th meridian Obsolete standards Ephemeris time Greenwich Mean Time Prime meridian Time in physics Absolute time and space Spacetime Chronon Continuous signal Coordinate time Cosmological decade Discrete time and continuous time Planck time Proper time Theory of relativity Time dilation Gravitational time dilation Time domain Time translation symmetry T - symmetry Horology Clock Astrarium Atomic clock Complication History of timekeeping devices Hourglass Marine chronometer Marine sandglass Radio clock Watch Water clock Sundial Dialing scales Equation of time History of sundials Sundial markup schema Calendar Astronomical Dominical letter Epact Equinox Gregorian Hebrew Hindu Intercalation Islamic Julian Leap year Lunar Lunisolar Solar Solstice Tropical year Weekday determination Weekday names Archaeology and geology Chronological dating Geologic time scale International Commission on Stratigraphy Astronomical chronology Galactic year Nuclear timescale Precession Sidereal time Units of time Century Day Decade Fortnight Hour Jiffy Lustrum Millennium Minute Moment Month Paksha Saeculum Second Shake Week Year Related topics Chronology Duration music Mental chronometry Metric time System time Time value of money Timekeeper Time portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Decade&oldid=802064536 '' Categories : Units of time Decades Hidden categories : Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Talk Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch Aragonés Asturianu Avañe'ẽ Авар Bân - lâm - gú Basa Banyumasan Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Boarisch Català Čeština ChiShona Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Frysk Gaeilge Gàidhlig Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 हिन्दी Hornjoserbsce Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Kreyòl ayisyen Latina Latviešu Lietuvių La. lojban. 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Question: what is a period of 3 years called
Answer: triennium