Diminish
Diminish , transitive verb
[Prefix di- (= Latin dis-) + minish: compare Latin diminuere, French diminuer, Old English 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.
2.
To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken.
This doth nothing diminish their opinion.
I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
O thou... at whose sight all the stars
Hide their diminished heads.
3.
(Music) 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.
Collocations (4)
Diminished column , one whose upper diameter is less than the lower.
Diminished scale or Diminishing scale , a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. — Gwilt
Diminishing rule (Architecture) , a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.
Diminishing stile (Architecture) , a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors.
Diminish , intransitive verb
To become or appear less or smaller; to lessen; as, the apparent size of an object diminishes as we recede from it.