diminishment
/dɪˈmɪnɪʃmənt/dih-MIH-nish-muhnt
/dɪˈmɪnɪʃmənt/dih-MIH-nish-muhnt
Meaningthe act or result of diminishing
Common meaning: the act or result of diminishing (inferred)
- diapart
- minsmaller, less; to lessenLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1147 · scan
- ishverb ending (from French -iss-)
- mentnoun ending: act or result
‘apart’ + ‘smaller, less’ → diminishment
Journey through time
- Proto-Indo-European*mi-‘diminish’source
- Latinminor, minimus; minuō‘smaller, less’
- Englishdiminish‘to shrink or lessen’
- Englishformed in English from diminishdiminishment‘the act or result of diminishing (inferred)’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the act or result of diminishing. It can be inferred from any of: diminish.
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: Formed in English from diminish + -ment (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- minor, minimus; minuō Latin “smaller, less; to lessen”
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