Decimalization is the process of changing money, or a system of measurement, so that it works in tens. Before that change, a country might have a messy mix — twelve pence in a shilling, twenty shillings in a pound, or sixteen ounces in a pound of weight. After decimalization, you count in tens and hundreds, which is easier to calculate. Britain’s change of its money in 1971 is the story most textbooks tell. The word names the change-over, not the decimal system itself. Decimal is the system; decimalization is the act of switching to it. It is a formal, historical word. You will rarely need it in a shop. British spelling often writes decimalisation, with an s; it is the same word.

十進位化；改採十進制。