reduce

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Latin redūcere, present active infinitive of redūcō (“reduce”); from re- (“back”), + dūcō (“lead”). See duke, and compare with redoubt.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

reduce (third-person singular simple present reduces, present participle reducing, simple past and past participle reduced)

  1. (transitive) To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower, to impair.
    • to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.
  2. (intransitive) To lose weight.
  3. (transitive) To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
    • to reduce a sergeant to the ranks
    • An ancient but reduced family. --Sir Walter Scott.
    • Nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon something belonging to it, to reduce it. --John Tillotson.
    • Having reduced their foe to misery beneath their fears. -- John Milton.
    • Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced. --Nathaniel Hawthorne.
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page viii
      Neither [Jones] […] nor I (in 1966) could conceive of reducing our "science" to the ultimate absurdity of reading Finnish newspapers almost a century and a half old in order to establish "priority."
  4. (transitive) To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.
    • to reduce a province or a fort
  5. (transitive) To bring to an inferior state or condition.
    • to reduce a city to ashes
  6. (transitive, cooking) To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.
  7. (transitive, chemistry) To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.
  8. (transitive, metallurgy) To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
  9. (transitive, mathematics) To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
  10. (transitive, law) To convert to written form (Usage note: this verb almost always take the phrase "to writing").
    • It is important that all business contracts be reduced to writing.

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

to bring down
to lose weight
to bring to an inferior rank
to bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture
to bring to an inferior state or condition
to decrease the liquid in food
chemistry: to add electrons to or remove hydrogen
metallurgy: to remove non-metals from metal
math: to simplify a formula
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

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Italian

[edit] Adjective

reduce m. and f. (m and f plural reduci) (da)

  1. returning (from)

[edit] Noun

reduce m. (plural reduci)

  1. survivor
  2. veteran (of a conflict)

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Latin

[edit] Verb

redūce

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of redūcō

[edit] Romanian

[edit] Etymology

Borrowed from Latin reducere, French réduire, based on duce.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: [reˈdu.ʧe]

[edit] Verb

a reduce (third-person singular present reduce, past participle redus) 3rd conj.

  1. (transitive) to reduce, to lessen

[edit] Conjugation

reduce (third conjugation)
infinitive a reduce
gerund reducând
past participle redus
number singular plural
person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
indicative eu tu el/ea noi voi ei/ele
present reduc reduci reduce reducem reduceți reduc
imperfect reduceam reduceai reducea reduceam reduceați reduceau
simple perfect redusei reduseși reduse reduserăm reduserăți reduseră
pluperfect redusesem reduseseși redusese reduseserăm reduseserăți reduseseră
subjunctive eu tu el/ea noi voi ei/ele
present să reduc să reduci să reducă să reducem să reduceți să reducă
imperative — tu — — voi —
affirmative redu reduceți
negative nu reduce nu reduceți

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Spanish

[edit] Verb

reduce (infinitive reducir)

  1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of reducir.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of reducir.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of reducir.
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