diminish

English

Etymology

From Old French diminuer.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/, SAMPA: /dI"mInIS/

Verb

diminish (third-person singular simple present diminishes, present participle diminishing, simple past and past participle diminished)

1. (transitive) To make smaller.
2. (intransitive) To become smaller.
3. (intransitive) To taper.
4. (intransitive) To disappear gradually.
5. (transitive, music) To reduce a perfect or minor interval by a semitone.

Derived terms

• law of diminishing returns

Translations

To make smaller

Arabic: خس (ar) (khassa) Bulgarian: намалявам (bg) Czech: zmenšit (cs) Dutch: verkleinen (nl), verminderen (nl) Finnish: pienentää (fi) French: réduire (fr) German: vermindern (de), verkleinern (de), reduzieren (de), verringern (de)

Italian: diminuire (it), ridurre (it) Latin: dēdūcō (la) Latvian: samazināt (lv) Spanish: disminuir (es) Swedish: minska (sv)

To become smaller

Armenian: պակասել (hy) (pakasel) Bulgarian: отслабвам (bg) Czech: zmenšit se Dutch: afnemen (nl), verkleinen (nl) Finnish: pienentyä (fi)

French: rétrécir (fr), rapetisser (fr), diminuer (fr) German: schrumpfen (de) Portuguese: diminuir (pt) Swedish: minska (sv)

To taper

Bulgarian: заострям (bg) Finnish: kaventua (fi)

French: amincir (fr) German: schmällern (de), abschwächen (de), verringern (de) Italian: diminuire (it)

To reduce a perfect or minor interval by a semitone

Dutch: verlagen (nl)

French: diminuer (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: 희미해지다, 사라지다 Latin: minuere

Spanish: disminuir Turkish: azaltmak