Downgrade

How to spell downgrade

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce downgrade

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does downgrade mean?

1. verbTo reduce something to a lower rank, level, quality, or importance.
2. nounA reduction in rank, quality, or status; also a downward slope.

Downgrade in a sentence

• verb

  The airline offered to downgrade his seat to economy after the overbooking.

• noun

  The new contract was a clear downgrade from her previous role.

• verb

  Poor sales forced the firm to downgrade its profit forecast for the year.

• noun

  The lorry picked up speed as it reached the long downgrade.

Where does downgrade come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a compound word that pairs the native English adverb 'down', which descends from Old English 'dune' meaning 'from the hill' or 'downwards', with 'grade', a much later borrowing from the Latin 'gradus', meaning literally 'a step' or 'a stage in a series', from the verb 'gradi' meaning 'to walk' or 'to step'. The 'grade' element entered English through scientific and educational use in the 1500s and 1600s, carrying the idea of a measured rank or level. The combined form 'downgrade' first appeared in American railway language in the 1800s to describe a stretch of track sloping downhill, and from there it shifted into a verb meaning 'to move something to a lower rank, quality, or status'. Because the spelling simply welds two familiar words together with no doubled or dropped letters, the same Latin 'gradus' that underlies 'gradual', 'graduate', and 'degrade' keeps the 'grade' ending stable and predictable.

How the word is built

• down (lower, native English)
• grade (from Latin gradus: step, rank)