Decrement

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Decrement \Dec"re*ment\, n. [L. decrementum, fr. decrescere. See
     {Decrease}.]
     1. The state of becoming gradually less; decrease;
        diminution; waste; loss.
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              Twit me with the decrements of my pendants. --Ford.
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              Rocks, mountains, and the other elevations of the
              earth suffer a continual decrement.   --Woodward.
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     2. The quantity lost by gradual diminution or waste; --
        opposed to {increment}.
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     3. (Crystallog.) A name given by Ha["u]y to the successive
        diminution of the layers of molecules, applied to the
        faces of the primitive form, by which he supposed the
        secondary forms to be produced.
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     4. (Math.) The quantity by which a variable is diminished.
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     {Equal decrement of life}.
        (a) The decrease of life in a group of persons in which
            the assumed law of mortality is such that of a given
            large number of persons, all being now of the same
            age, an equal number shall die each consecutive year.
        (b) The decrease of life in a group of persons in which
            the assumed law of mortality is such that the ratio of
            those dying in a year to those living through the year
            is constant, being independent of the age of the
            persons.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  decrement
       n 1: the amount by which something decreases [syn: {decrease}]
            [ant: {increase}]
       2: a process of becoming smaller or shorter [syn: {decrease}]
          [ant: {increase}, {increase}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  71 Moby Thesaurus words for "decrement":
     abatement, ablation, abridgment, alleviation, attenuation,
     attrition, consumption, contraction, corrosion, curtailment, cut,
     cutting, dampening, damping, decrease, decrescence, deduction,
     deflation, deliquescence, depletion, depreciation, depression,
     derogation, detraction, diminishment, diminution, dip,
     disparagement, dissipation, dissolution, drain, dying, dying off,
     erosion, evaporation, exhaustion, expenditure, extenuation,
     extraction, fade-out, impairment, impoverishment, languishment,
     leakage, lessening, letup, loss, lowering, miniaturization, minus,
     mitigation, reduction, relaxation, remission, retraction,
     retrenchment, sagging, scaling down, shortening, shrinkage,
     simplicity, subtraction, truncation, using, using up, wastage,
     waste, weakening, wear and tear, wearing, wearing away