decrease

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishdecresen,alteration ofdiscresen,fromAnglo-Norman,Old Frenchdescreistre(French:décroître), fromLatindecrescere.

Pronunciation

• Audio(US):

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• (verb)enPR:dĭkrēs',IPA^(key):/dɪˈkɹiːs/
• (noun)enPR:dē'krēs,IPA^(key):/ˈdiːkɹiːs/
• Rhymes:-iːs

Verb

decrease(third-person singular simple presentdecreases,present participledecreasing,simple past and past participledecreased)

1. (intransitive)Of a quantity, to becomesmaller.

   The quality of our products hasdecreasedsince the main designer left.

2. (transitive)To make (a quantity) smaller.

   Let'sdecreasethe volume a little so we can hear each other talking.

Synonyms

• (become smaller):drop,fall,go down,plummet(rapidly),plunge(rapidly),reduce,shrink,sink;See alsoThesaurus:decrease
• (make smaller):abate,cut,decrement,lower,reduce;See alsoThesaurus:diminish

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of“become larger”):go up,grow,increase,rise,soar(rapidly),shoot up(rapidly);See alsoThesaurus:increase
• (antonym(s) of“make larger”):increase,increment,raise,up(informal);See alsoThesaurus:augment

Derived terms

• decreasing function
• decreasing term assurance
• monotonic decreasing
• non-decreasing

Related terms

• decretion
• increase

Translations

become smaller

• Armenian:փոքրանալ(hy)(pʻokʻranal),պակասել(hy)(pakasel)
• Assamese:কমা(koma)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:ܒܵܨܹܪ(bāṣēr)
• Azerbaijani:azalmaq(az),düşmək(az)(with ablative)
• Bulgarian:намаля́вам се(namaljávam se)
• Catalan:decréixer(ca),disminuir(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Giảm thiếu／Giảm thiếu(zh)(jiǎnshǎo),Hạ hàng(zh)(xiàjiàng)

• Danish:formindske,forringe(da)
• Dutch:afnemen(nl),verminderen(nl)
• Esperanto:malpliiĝi,malaltiĝi
• Finnish:vähentyä(fi),pienentyä(fi),pienetä(fi),vähetä(fi)
• French:diminuer(fr)
• Galician:diminuír(gl),minguar(gl)
• Gallurese:affluscià
• German:abnehmen(de)

  Alemannic German:schwiine

• Greek:μειώνομαι(el)(meiónomai),λιγοστεύω(el)(ligostévo)

  Ancient:μινύθω(minúthō)

• Hebrew:פחת(he)(pakhát)
• Hindi:घटना(hi)(ghaṭnā)
• Hungarian:csökken(hu)
• Ido:diminutar(io)
• Irish:laghdaigh
• Italian:diminuire(it),calare(it)
• Japanese:Giảm thiếu する(ja)(げんしょうする, genshō suru),Giảm る(ja)(へる, heru)
• Kazakh:азаю(azaü)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:کەم کردن(kem kirdin)

• Maori:pāitiiti
• Middle English:discresen
• Norwegian:forminske(no),forringe
• Persian:کاستن(fa)(kâstan)
• Portuguese:diminuir(pt),reduzir(pt)
• Romanian:descrește(ro),scădea(ro)
• Russian:уменьша́ться(ru)impf(umenʹšátʹsja),уме́ньшиться(ru)pf(uménʹšitʹsja),снижа́ться(ru)impf(snižátʹsja),сни́зиться(ru)pf(snízitʹsja),понижа́ться(ru)impf(ponižátʹsja),пони́зиться(ru)pf(ponízitʹsja)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese:calai,menguai

  Logudorese:menguare,minimare

• Sassarese:miminà,abbracà
• Spanish:disminuir(es),mermar(es)
• Swedish:minska(sv)
• Turkish:azalmak(tr),düşmek(tr)

make smaller

• Assamese:কমোৱা(komüa)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:ܡܲܒܨܸܪ(mabṣir)
• Azerbaijani:azaltmaq(az)
• Bulgarian:намаля́вам(bg)(namaljávam)
• Catalan:disminuir(ca)
• Czech:snížit(cs)
• Dutch:verminderen(nl)
• Esperanto:malpliigi,malaltigi(eo)
• Finnish:laskea(fi),vähentää(fi),pienentää(fi)
• French:diminuer(fr),réduire(fr)
• Galician:minguar(gl),diminuír(gl)
• German:verringern(de)
• Greek:μειώνω(el)(meióno),ελαττώνω(el)(elattóno)
• Hebrew:הפחית(hifkhít)
• Hindi:घटना(hi)(ghaṭnā)
• Hungarian:csökkent(hu)
• Ido:diminutar(io)
• Ingrian:vähentää
• Irish:laghdaigh
• Italian:diminuire(it),far calare,ribassare(it),ridurre(it),decrementare
• Japanese:Giảm thiếu させる(ja)(げんしょうさせる, genshō saseru),Giảm らす(ja)(へらす, herasu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:کەم کردن(kem kirdin)

• Middle English:discresen
• Portuguese:diminuir(pt),reduzir(pt)
• Russian:уменьша́ть(ru)impf(umenʹšátʹ),уме́ньшить(ru)pf(uménʹšitʹ),понижа́ть(ru)impf(ponižátʹ),пони́зить(ru)pf(ponízitʹ),снижа́ть(ru)impf(snižátʹ),сни́зить(ru)pf(snízitʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Logudorese:mèngua

• Spanish:disminuir(es),mermar(es)
• Swedish:minska(sv),förringa(sv)
• Turkish:azaltmak(tr),düşürmek(tr)
• Vietnamese:hạ(vi)

Noun

decrease(countableanduncountable,pluraldecreases)

1. An amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased.

   After six years of constant growth, the company reported a slightdecreasein sales last year.

   One research team has recorded Baishui’sdecreaseat about 27 meters per year over the last 10 years.

2. (knitting)Areductionin the number ofstitches,usually accomplished bysuspendingthe stitch to be decreased from another existing stitch or by knitting it together with another stitch. SeeDecrease (knitting).

Synonyms

• (amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased):cut,decline,decrement,drop,fall,loss,lowering,reduction,shrinkage

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of“amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased”):gain,increase,increment,raise(US, of pay),rise

Translations

amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased

• Bulgarian:намаляване(bg)n(namaljavane),намаление(bg)n(namalenie)
• Catalan:disminucióf,decreixençaf
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Giảm thiếu／Giảm thiếu(zh)(jiǎnshǎo)

• Finnish:lasku(fi),vähenemä,vähennys(fi)
• Galician:diminución(gl)f,minguaf,devalom
• German:Verringerung(de)f
• Greek:

  Ancient:ἐλάττωσις(eláttōsis)

• Hungarian:csökkenés(hu)
• Irish:laghdúm
• Italian:diminuzione(it)f,calo(it)m,ribasso(it)m,riduzione(it)f
• Japanese:Giảm thiếu(ja)(げんしょう, genshō)
• Latin:dēcrēmentum(la)n
• Maori:ero
• Norwegian:forringelse
• Old English:æfwelam(of wealth)
• Persian:کاهش(fa)(kâheš)
• Polish:spadek(pl)m,ubytek(pl)m
• Portuguese:redução(pt)f,diminuição(pt)f
• Quechua:yawyay
• Russian:уменьше́ние(ru)n(umenʹšénije),сниже́ние(ru)n(snižénije)
• Spanish:disminución(es)f,merma(es)
• Swedish:minskning(sv)c
• Ukrainian:зме́ншенняn(zménšennja),зни́женняn(znýžennja)

Anagrams

• deceaser