decrement
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Decrement \Dec"re*ment\, n. [L. decrementum, fr. decrescere. See
{Decrease}.]
1. The state of becoming gradually less; decrease;
diminution; waste; loss.
[1913 Webster]
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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
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