Diminishing

How to spell diminishing

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce diminishing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does diminishing mean?

1. adjectiveBecoming gradually smaller, fewer, or less in amount or intensity.
2. verbMaking or becoming smaller, weaker, or less in the act of an ongoing process.

Diminishing in a sentence

• adjective

  The firm is worried about diminishing profits across its retail division.

• verb

  The new policy is steadily diminishing the value of older pensions.

• adjective

  Economists warned investors about the law of diminishing returns.

• verb

  She felt the painkillers slowly diminishing the ache in her shoulder.

Where does diminishing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb deminuere, meaning 'to make smaller' or 'to lessen', which was built from the prefix de- ('down, away') and minuere ('to reduce'), itself related to minus ('less') and minor ('smaller'). The Latin form passed into Old French as diminuer, and English already had a similar native-borrowed verb 'minish' meaning to lessen; the two blended in the late 1300s and 1400s to give us 'diminish'. The modern '-ing' form simply adds the present participle ending used for ongoing or descriptive action. The same min- root, carrying the idea of smallness, still sits inside everyday words like 'minimum', 'minor', and 'minute' (the tiny unit of time). Knowing that root explains the single m and the i after it, since the trap is doubling letters that were never doubled in the Latin source.

How the word is built

• di- (from de-: down, away)
• mini/min (from Latin minuere: to make small)
• -ish (verb-forming suffix)
• -ing (present participle)