diminution

See also: Diminution

English

Etymology

From Middle English diminucioun, from Anglo-Norman diminuciun, Old French diminucion, from Latin dīminūtiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪmɪˈnjuːʃən/
• Rhymes: -uːʃən
• Hyphenation: di‧mi‧nu‧tion

Noun

diminution (countable and uncountable, plural diminutions)

1. A lessening, decrease or reduction.

   The new emission standards have produced a measurable diminution in air pollution.

   • 2020, Frank Bruni, Donald Trump Is the Best Ever President in the History of the Cosmos‎^[1]:

     That’s the question at the heart of [Donald Trump's] re-election bid, because his strategy isn’t really “law and order” or racism or a demonization of liberals as monument-phobic wackadoodles or a diminution of Joe Biden as a doddering wreck.

2. The act or process of making diminutive.
3. (music) a compositional technique where the composer shortens the melody by shortening its note values.

Synonyms

• (lessening, decrease): diminishment

Related terms

• diminish
• diminished
• diminuendo

Translations

lessening, decrease or reduction

• Bulgarian: намаляване (bg) n (namaljavane), намаление (bg) n (namalenie)
• Czech: snížení (cs) n
• German: Rückgang (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: μείωσις f (meíōsis)

• Irish: laghdú m
• Italian: diminuzione (it) f
• Maori: tuaititanga, ero
• Romanian: diminuare (ro) f, micșorare (ro) f, scădere (ro) f
• Spanish: disminución (es) f
• Swedish: förminskning c

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French diminucion, borrowed from Latin dīminūtiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.mi.ny.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

diminution f (plural diminutions)

1. diminution, abatement

Further reading

• “diminution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Noun

diminution (plural diminutiones)

1. decrease

Related terms

• diminuer