Decreasing

How to spell decreasing

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce decreasing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does decreasing mean?

1. adjectiveBecoming progressively smaller, fewer, or lower in amount.
2. verbContinuing to grow smaller or less in size, number, or intensity.

Decreasing in a sentence

• adjective

  The chart showed a steadily decreasing rate of new orders.

• verb

  The medication worked by decreasing the swelling around the joint.

• adjective

  With decreasing rainfall each summer, the reservoir levels worried the council.

• verb

  The team kept decreasing the budget until the project finally broke even.

Where does decreasing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb decrescere, which combined de- meaning 'down' or 'away' with crescere meaning 'to grow', giving the literal sense 'to grow downward', that is, to become smaller. Latin crescere is the same root that gave English 'crescent', 'increase', and 'crescendo', all of which share the idea of growing. The verb passed into Old French as descroistre and arrived in English in the late 1300s, settling into the spelling 'decrease'. Adding the suffix -ing produced 'decreasing', used both as a present participle and as an adjective describing something steadily growing less. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the 'ea' vowel team and the single 's' often tempt writers toward 'decreesing' or a doubled consonant, but remembering its kinship with 'increase' and 'crease' helps keep the shape steady.

How the word is built

• de- (down, away)
• creas (from Latin crescere: to grow)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)