diminution

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

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

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:

     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.

• (lessening, decrease): diminishment

• diminish
• diminished
• diminuendo

From Old French diminucion, borrowed from Latin dīminūtiō.

• IPA^(key): /di.mi.ny.sjɔ̃/

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diminution f (plural diminutions)

1. diminution, abatement

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

diminution (plural diminutiones)

1. decrease

• diminuer