diminish
/dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/dih-MIH-nish
/dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/dih-MIH-nish
Meaningto make smaller
Common meaning: to shrink or lessen
- diapart
- minsmaller, less; to lessenLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1147 · scan
- ishverb ending (from French -iss-)
‘apart’ + ‘smaller, less’ → diminish
Journey through time
- Aryan root · reconstructed√MI‘diminish’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 270, p. 739 · scan
- Latinminor, minimus; minuō‘smaller, less’
- Englishdiminish‘to shrink or lessen’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin minor ‘smaller, less; to lessen’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry minor, p. 1147 · dictionary scan
Roots
- minor, minimus; minuō Latin “smaller, less; to lessen”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app