The New International Encyclopædia/Decima

​DEC′IMA (Lat., fem. of decimus, tenth, from decem, Engl. ten). In music, (1) an interval of ten diatonic degrees (for example, from C to E), or practically the third above the octave, as which it is treated in harmony. There are only two cases in which it is treated differently from the third: first, in double counterpoint, where a necessary difference must be made although the same harmonic rules apply; and second, in thorough-bass, where the figure 9 shall rise a degree to 10, instead of falling a degree to 8. (2) An organ stop, called also double tierce, pitched a tenth higher than the eight-foot stops.

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