Adjacent Words

Diminished definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIMINISHED, pp. Lessened; made smaller; reduced in size; contracted; degraded.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: impaired by diminution [syn: diminished, lessened, vitiated, weakened]
2: (of an organ or body part) diminished in size or strength as a result of disease or injury or lack of use; "partial paralysis resulted in an atrophied left arm" [syn: atrophied, wasted, diminished] [ant: enlarged, hypertrophied]
3: (of musical intervals) reduction by a semitone of any perfect or minor musical interval; "a diminished fifth"
4: made to seem smaller or less (especially in worth); "her comments made me feel small" [syn: belittled, diminished, small]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: circa 1751 of a musical interval made one half step less than perfect or minor <a diminished fifth>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 reduced; made smaller or less. 2 Mus. (of an interval, usu. a seventh or fifth) less by a semitone than the corresponding minor or perfect interval. Phrases and idioms: diminished responsibility Law the limitation of criminal responsibility on the ground of mental weakness or abnormality.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Diminish Di*min"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diminished; p. pr. & vb. n. Diminishing.] [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf. L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. 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. --Barrow. 2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken. This doth nothing diminish their opinion. --Robynson (More's Utopia). I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. --Ezek. xxix. 15. O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads. --Milton. 3. (Mus.) 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. --Deut. iv. 2. Diminished column, one whose upper diameter is less than the lower. Diminished, or Diminishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. --Gwilt. Diminishing rule (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft. Diminishing stile (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors. Syn: To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail; impair; degrade. See Decrease.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Diminish Di*min"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diminished; p. pr. & vb. n. Diminishing.] [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf. L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. 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. --Barrow. 2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken. This doth nothing diminish their opinion. --Robynson (More's Utopia). I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. --Ezek. xxix. 15. O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads. --Milton. 3. (Mus.) 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. --Deut. iv. 2. Diminished column, one whose upper diameter is less than the lower. Diminished, or Diminishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. --Gwilt. Diminishing rule (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft. Diminishing stile (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors. Syn: To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail; impair; degrade. See Decrease.