diminution
noun
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We find written evidence for diminution going back to the 14th century, including use in Geoffrey Chaucer's Middle English poetical work Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer used "maken dyminucion" ("make diminution") in contrast to the verb "encrece" ("increase"). Diminution came to English by way of Anglo-French from Latin. Its Latin ancestor deminuere ("to diminish") is also an ancestor of the English verb diminish, which entered the language in the 15th century, and the related diminishment, a synonym of diminution that English speakers have been using since the 16th century.
Synonyms
Examples of diminution in a Sentence
Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 25 June 2024
Nope — those three sanctimonious defenders of our democracy are all down with the deep-state’s diminution of our democracy.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 24 June 2024
Meanwhile, from Washington's vantage point, this new geopolitical context is also marked by a significant diminution of Russia's relevance to key U.S. interests.
—Leon Aron, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2013
He was released early in 2022 after earning diminution credits.
—Hannah Gaskill, Baltimore Sun, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for diminution 
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Cite this Entry
“Diminution.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diminution. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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diminution
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diminution
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