Diminish - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: Diminish

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

di·min·ish

Audio Help [di-min-ish] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to make or cause to seem smaller, less, less important, etc.; lessen; reduce.

2.	Architecture. to give (a column) a form tapering inward from bottom to top.

3.	Music. to make (an interval) smaller by a chromatic half step than the corresponding perfect or minor interval.

4.	to detract from the authority, honor, stature, or reputation of; disparage.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to lessen; decrease.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME; b. diminuen (< AF diminuer < ML dīminuere for L déminuere to make smaller) and minishen minish

]

—Related forms

di·min·ish·a·ble, adjective

di·min·ish·ment, noun

—Synonyms 5. See decrease.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Diminish

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

di·min·ish Audio Help   (dĭ-mĭn'ĭsh) Pronunciation Key
v.   di·min·ished, di·min·ish·ing, di·min·ish·es

v.   tr.

1. To make smaller or less or to cause to appear so.
2. To detract from the authority, reputation, or prestige of.
To cause to taper.
Music To reduce (a perfect or minor interval) by a semitone.

v. intr.

To become smaller or less. See Synonyms at decrease.
To taper.

[Middle English diminishen, blend of diminuen, to lessen (from Old French diminuer, from Latin dīminuere, variant of dēminuere : dē-, de- + minuere, to lessen) and minishen, to reduce (from Old French minuiser, from Vulgar Latin *minūtiāre, from Latin minūtia, smallness, from minūtus, small, from past participle of minuere); see mei-² in Indo-European roots.]

di·min'ish·a·ble adj., di·min'ish·ment n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
diminish

1417, from merger of two obsolete verbs, diminue and minish. Diminue is from O.Fr. diminuer "make small," from L. diminuere "break into small pieces," variant of deminuere "lessen, diminish," from de- "completely" + minuere "make small." Minish is from O.Fr. menuisier, from L. minuere.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

diminish
verb
1.	decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" [syn: decrease] [ant: increase]
2.	lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of; "don't belittle your colleagues"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
diminish [diˈminiʃ] verb

to make or become less
Example: Our supplies are diminishing rapidly.

Arabic:	يَقِلُّ
Chinese (Simplified):	减少
Chinese (Traditional):	減少
Czech:	zmenšit se, zkrátit se
Danish:	formindske
Dutch:	(doen) slinken
Estonian:	kahandama, kahanema
Finnish:	vähentää, vähetä
French:	diminuer
German:	vermindern
Greek:	μειώνω, μειώνομαι
Hungarian:	csökken(t)
Icelandic:	minnka, rÿra
Indonesian:	mengurangi
Italian:	diminuire

Japanese:	減少させる
Korean:	줄다; 줄이다
Latvian:	samazināt; samazināties
Lithuanian:	mažėti, mažinti
Norwegian:	(for)minske, redusere, skjære ned på
Polish:	zmniejszać, maleć
Portuguese (Brazil):	diminuir
Romanian:	a (se) diminua, a (se) împuţina
Russian:	уменьшать(ся)
Slovak:	zmenšiť sa
Slovenian:	zmanjšati (se)
Spanish:	disminuir
Swedish:	minska, avta
Turkish:	azal(t)mak

See also: diminished

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Diminish

De*crease"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Decreased; p. pr. & vb. n. Decreasing.] [OE. decrecen, fr. OF. decreistre, F. d['e]cro[^i]tre, or from the OF. noun (see Decrease, n.), fr. L. decrescere to grow less; de + crescere to grow. See Crescent, and cf. Increase.] To grow less, -- opposed to increase; to be diminished gradually, in size, degree, number, duration, etc., or in strength, quality, or excellence; as, they days decrease in length from June to December.

He must increase, but I must decrease. --John iii. 30.

Syn: To Decrease, Diminish.

Usage: Things usually decrease or fall off by degrees, and from within, or through some cause which is imperceptible; as, the flood decreases; the cold decreases; their affection has decreased. Things commonly diminish by an influence from without, or one which is apparent; as, the army was diminished by disease; his property is diminishing through extravagance; their affection has diminished since their separation their separation. The turn of thought, however, is often such that these words may be interchanged.

The olive leaf, which certainly them told The flood decreased. --Drayton.

Crete's ample fields diminish to our eye; Before the Boreal blasts the vessels fly. --Pope.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Diminish

Di*min"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diminished; p. pr. & vb. n. Diminishing.] [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf. L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. diminuen. See Dis-, and Minish.]

1. To make smaller in any manner; to reduce in bulk or amount; to lessen; -- opposed to augment or increase.

Not diminish, but rather increase, the debt. --Barrow.

2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken.

This doth nothing diminish their opinion. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. --Ezek. xxix. 15.

O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads. --Milton.

3. (Mus.) To make smaller by a half step; to make (an interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh.

4. To take away; to subtract.

Neither shall ye diminish aught from it. --Deut. iv. 2.

Diminished column, one whose upper diameter is less than the lower.

Diminished, or Diminishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. --Gwilt.

Diminishing rule (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.

Diminishing stile (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors.

Syn: To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail; impair; degrade. See Decrease.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

diminish

diminish: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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