diminish 
1622 
dimly 
This impertinent humour of diminiMn, every one diminution (dim-i-nn'shon), . [< ME. dimi- 
who is produced in conversation to their advantage runs 
through the world. Steele, Spectator, No. 348. 
3. To take away; subtract: with/com, and ap- 
plied to the object removed. 
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, 
neither shall ye diminish ought from it. Deut. iv. 2. 
Nothing was diminished from the safety of the king by 
Vandyck's, they would appear to have been 
that proportion. 
tt'alpole, Anecdotes of Painting, III. i. 
nution, (liminucion, < OF. "diminution, F. diminu- JjJ" ^ 6 O f 
tion = Pr. diminutio = Sp. diminution (cf. Pg. pa inted for 
diminuicSo) = It. diminuzione, < LL. ML. dimi- 
nutio(n-) for L. deminutio(n-), a lessening, < de- diminutiveness (di-inin'u-tiv-nes), n. Small- 
minuere, pp. deminutus, lessen: see diminish.] , ie8 s; littleness; want of ' bulk, dignity, impor- 
1. The act of diminishing, lessening, or redu- tance, etc. 
...... .. -, ............ ci ng ; a making smaller ; a lowering in amount, while he stood on tiptoe8 thrumming his bass-viol, the 
the imprisonment of the duke. mmra. Valu6) Dignity, estimation, etc. : as, the dmunu- diminutiveness of his figure was totally eclipsed by the 
4. In music, to lessen by a semitone, as an in- 
terval. 
II. intrans. To lessen ; become or appear less 
or smaller; dwindle: as, the prospect of suc- 
cess is diminishing by delay. 
What judgment I had increases rather than diminuhet. 
Dryden. 
Crete's ample fields diminish to our eye ; 
Before the Boreal blasts the vessels fly. 
Pope, Odyssey. 
=Syn. Dimndle, Contract, etc. (see decrease); to shrink, 
subside, abate, ebb, fall off. 
diminishable (di-min'ish-a-bl), a. [< diminish 
+ -able.] Capable of being reduced in size, 
volume, or importance. 
diminished (di-min'isht), p. a. [Pp. of dimin- 
ish, v.] Lessened; made smaller; contracted; 
hence, belittled; degraded. 
At whose sight all the stars 
Hide their diminish'd heads. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 35. 
She feels the Change, and deep regrets the Shame 
Of Honours lost, and her diminisk'd Name. 
Congrece, Birth of the Muse. 
Diminished arch, an arch less than a semicircle. Di- 
minished bar, in joinerii, the bar of a sash which is thin- 
nest on its inner edge. Diminished chord, in mate, a 
chord having a diminished interval between its upper and 
lower tones. See chord, 4. Diminished interval, in 
music, an interval one semitone shorter than the corre- 
,.,.i of wealth^ of importance, of power. expansion of his instrument. Student, II. 226. 
Make me wise by the truth, for my own soul's salvation, diminutize (di-min'u-tlz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
and I shall not regard the world's opinion OT diminution (dminutized, DV>r. dimlnutizinfi. [As diminutive 
of me. 
Up. Gauden. 
+ -ize.] To put (a word) into the form of a 
It is to poor Estcourt I chiefly owe that I . am^arrrved ^at diminutive; form as a diminutive of another 
itw?m? 1 OTgues f a t depravftyof h ni 1 y S wiii.*' M "' e ' word: as, Certhiola is Certhia diminutized. [Re- 
Steele, Spectator, No. 468. cent.] 
Nor thinks it diminution to be rank'd dimisn, . See dimmish. 
In military honour next. Philips, climissiollt (di-mish'on), n. [< L. dimissio(n-), 
a sending forth, dismission, < dimittere, pp. di- 
misstis, send away: see dimit, dismiss, and cf. 
demission, dismission.] Leave to depart. Har- 
row. 
The wise man doth explicate his owne meaning, and 
sheweth in what case he doth forbid this manner of dimis- 
sion with procrastination. Cleaver, Proverbs, p. 59. 
. , 
The process of becoming less: as, the ap- 
rent diminution of a receding body; the 
2. 
parent 
diminution of the velocity of a projectile. 
Never did we see a case in which the increase of the bulk 
was so evidently a diminution of the value. 
Macaulay, Sir J. Mackintosh. 
ferencing called" cadency. 6. In arch., the 
gradual decrease in the diameter of the shaft 
of a column from the base to the capital. =Syn. 
1 and 2. Decrease, reduction, abridgment, abatement. 
sponding" perfect or the corresponding minor interval, diminutiyal(di-min-u-tl'valordi-min'u-ti-val), 
See interval. Diminished subject, in music, a subject a. [< diminutive, n., 3, + -al.] Of or pertain- 
or theme repeated or imitated in diminution (which see). i n g to, or of the nature of, a diminutive. 
with^Kn^OTthirf wd^ta^iniSl flfth-tha" is'.'two In such words as braggart, I have long been inclined to 
minor thirds superposed ; in the major scale, the triad on think that the t is excrescent, and ~1>| 
the seventh tone. See triad. a dnmnuti ml suffix. T. H. hey, Pnilol. bssays, p. 213. 
diminisher (di-min'ish-er), n. One who or that diminutive (di-min'u-tiv), a. and . [== F. 
3. In music, the repetition or imitation of a sub- 
ject or theme in notes having one half or one dimissorial (dim-i-so'ri-al), n. [As Oimisaory 
quarter the duration of those first used: a fa- + -al.] Same as dimissory letter (which see, 
vorite device in contrapuntal composition. See under dimissory). 
canon, counterpoint, and imitation. 4. In laic, dimissory (dim'i-so-ri), a. [= F. dimissoire = 
an omission in the record of a case sent up from Sp. dimisorio = Pg. It. dimissorio, < LL. dimis- 
an inferior court to the court of review. 5. In sorius (only in the phrase dimissoria; litterte, 
her., differencing, especially that kind of dif- dimissory letter), < L. dimissus, pp. of dimittere, 
which diminishes. 
The diminisher of regal, but the demolisher of episcopal 
authority. Clarke, Sermons, p. 241. 
diminishingly (di-min'ish-ing-li), adv. In a 
diminishing manner ; in a way to belittle repu- 
tation. 
I never heard him censure, or so much as speak dimin- 
ishingly of any one who was absent. Locke. 
diminishlng-rule (di-min'ish-ing-rol), n. In 
arch., a broad rule cut with a concave edge : 
used to ascertain the swell of a column, to try 
its curvature, etc. 
diminishing-scale(di-min'ish-ing-skal), . In 
arch., a scale of gradation used to find the dif- 
diminutif= Sp. Pg. It. diminutive (= G. dimi- 
nutiv = Sw.Dan. diminutiv, in grammar), < ML. 
diminutirus for LL. deminntivus (in grammar), 
< L. deminutus, pp. of deminuere, make small: 
see diminish.] I. a. 1. Small; little; narrow; 
contracted: as, a race of diminutire men; a di- 
minutive house. 
The poor wren, 
The most diminutive of birds, will fight, 
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. 
Ska*., Macbeth, iv. 2. 
2. Having the power of diminishing or lessen- 
ing; tending to diminish, decrease, or abridge. 
Diminutive of liberty. 
send away: see dimit, v.] 1. Sending away; 
dismissing to another jurisdiction. 2. Grant- 
ing leave to depart Dimissory letter, (o) In the 
ancient church, an episcopal letter dismissing a clergy- 
man from one diocese and recommending him to another 
in which he was about to take up his residence. (See com 
mandatory.) (6) In the modern church, a letter author- 
izing the bearer as a candidate for ordination. In the 
Church of England it is used when a candidate has a title 
in one diocese and is to be ordained in another. It can 
be issued only by the bishop, or, under special circum- 
stances, by the vicar-general. In the Roman Catholic 
Church it may be given by the pope to ordinands from 
any part of the world, by a bishop to one of his own sub- 
arc., a scae o graa - , . 
f erent points in drawing the spiral curve of the 3. In gram., expressing something small or 
inutive 
Ionic volute, 
diminishing-stuff (di-min'ish-ing-stuf), n. In 
ship-building, planks wrought under the wales 
of a ship, diminishing gradually till they come 
to the thickness of the bottom plank, 
diminishmentt (di-min'ish-ment), n. [< dimin- 
ish + -ment.] Diminution; abatement. 
You . . . shall conserue the same whole and entire, 
without diminishment, vntill you shall haue deliuered . . . 
the same. Ilakluyt's Voyages, I. 233. 
Euerye man seeth by and by what foloweth, a great di- 
minishment of the strength of the realme. 
Sir J. Cheke, Hurt of Sedition. 
diininuet, v. See diminish. 
diminuendo (It. pron. de-me-no-eu'do). [It., < 
diminuire, diminish : see diminish.] In music, an 
instruction to the performer to lessen the vol- 
ume of sound: often indicated by dim., dimin., 
or by the sign ^>: the opposite of crescendo. 
diminuent (di-min'u-ent), a. [< ML. diminu- 
en(t-)s for L. deminuen( t-)s, ppr. of deminuere, 
diminish : see diminish.] Diminishing ; lessen- 
ing. [Rare or obsolete.] 
The comparative degree in such kind of expressions be- 
ing usually taken for a diminuent term. 
Bp. Sanderson, Sermons, Pref. 
diminutet (dim'i-nut), a. [< ML. diminutusfoT 
L. deminutus, small, pp. of deminuere, diminish: 
see diminish.] Reduced ; small. 
In matters of contract it is not lawful so much as to 
conceal the secret and undiscernible faults of the mer- 
chandize ; but we must acknowledge them, or else affix 
prices made diminute, and lessened to such proportions 
and abatements as that fault should make. 
Jer. Taylor, Christian Simplicity. 
Diminute being, being in the divine mind before creation. 
Diminute conversion, in logic. See conversion, 2. 
diminutelyt (dim'i-nut-li), adv. In a manner 
which lessens ; as reduced. 
An execration only ; but that, too, elliptically and dimi- 
nutely uttered. Bp, Sanderson. 
little: as, a diminutive word; the diminutive 
suffixes '-kin,' '-let,' '-ling,' etc. See n., 3. 
II. n. If. Anything very small as to size, 
importance, value, etc. : as, a dainty diminutive. 
Ah, how the poor world is pestered with such water-flies ; 
diminutives of nature. Shak., T. and C., v. 1. 
Most monster-like, be shown 
For poor'st diminutives, for dolts. 
Shak., A. and C., Iv. 10. 
2f. In old med., something that diminishes or 
abates. 
Without the bishop's dimiisory letters, presbyters might 
not go to another diocess. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 218. 
dimit (di-mif), i). t. ; pret. and pp. dimitted, 
ppr. dimitting. [= Sp. dimitir = Pg. dimittir, 
let go, dismiss, resign, abdicate, < L. dimittere, 
send away, dismiss, < di-, dis-, away, + mittere, 
send. Cf. dismiss.] 1. To dismiss; permit to 
go- 
Hee greets Gehezi with the same word wherewith hee 
lately was dimitted by his master. 
Bp. Hall, Elisha with Naaman. 
2. To grant ; farm ; let. 
dimit (di-mif), n. [< dimit, v.] In freema- 
sonry, a dimissory letter; written permission 
to leave a lodge, implying good standing in the 
lodge left, and thus no disability to affiliate with 
another lodge. 
dimity (dim'i-ti), n. ; pi. dimities (-tiz). [For- 
merly also dimitty ; = D. diemet, dietnit = Dan. 
dimiti (< E.) = Sp. dimite = It. dimito, < ML. 
dimitum = Ar. Pers. dimydtiy, < Gr. Si/urof, dim- 
ity, lit. two-threaded, < it- 2 two-,_+ fiiroc,, a 
Diet, diminutives, alteratives, cordials, correctors, as > "" "" 3^2 x . H " T'T? , ", W 
before Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 403. thread of the woof ; equav. thus to E. twill. Cf. 
.!._ ii s ^rft iff _; 4 [..... A n J ~\ A 
3. In gram., a word formed from another word, 
usually an appellative or generic term, to ex- 
press a little thing of the kind: as, in Latin, 
lapillus, a little stone, from lapis, a stone ; cel- 
lula, a little cell, from cella, a cell ; in French, 
maisonnette, a little house, from maison, ahouse ; 
in English, manikin, a little man, from man; 
rivulet, which is a double diminutive, being from 
Latin rivuhts, a diminutive of rims, a river, with 
the English diminutive termination -et. Many 
terminations originally diminutive, or words having such 
samite, ult. < MGr. f^auirof, six-threaded.] A 
stout cotton fabric ornamented in the loom with 
raised stripes or fancy figures, and usually em- 
ployed undyed for bed and bedroom furniture. 
Patterns are sometimes printed upon it in col- 
ors. 
Go, put on 
One of thy teniple suits, and accompany us, 
Or else thy dimity breeches will be mortal. 
Jasper Mayne, City Match, i. 4. 
Dimity binding, a kind of binding or galloon with plain, 
straight edges, and ornamented with a raised pattern, 
rii'miiri /^;'i;\ ^ rv TVTTT! */7;.7a* / A R ^7;m/j> 
terminations, have lost diminutive force. The principal dimlyt (dim'li), a. [< ME. "dimly, < AS. climlii'. 
suffixes in English recognized as diminutive are -et, -km, < aim> ^im : gee dim, a., and -ly 1 .] Dim ; dim- 
See also -el, -Me, -ulc, 
He afterwards proving a dainty and effeminate youth, 
-let, -ling, -ock, -in, and -y or /< 
cule, etc. 
was commonly called by the diminutive of his name, Pe- 
terkin or Perkin. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII. 
Babyisms and dear diminutives 
Scatter'd all over the vocabulary 
Of such a love. Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
In some languages, as Italian for instance, adjectival 
repetition is really almost like mathematical multiplica- 
tion, increasing or diminishing the effect according as the 
term is in itself an augmentative or diminutive. 
J. Venn, Symbolic Logic, p. 56. 
diminutively (di-min'u-tiv-li), adv. In a di- 
minishing manner ; in a manner to lessen ; on 
a small scale. 
ming. 
No dimly clmld o'ershadows thee, 
Nor gloom, nor darksome night. 
Diaries, O Mother dear, Jerusalem! 
dimly (dim'li), adr. [< ME. dimly, dimliche, < 
AS. *dimlice, adv., < dimlic. adj.: see dimly, a., 
and -lyV.] In a dim or obscure manner; with 
dull or imperfect vision or a faint light; not 
brightly or clearly. 
Doest thou now lookc nimlti, and with a dull eye vpon 
all Goodues? Dekker, Seven Deadly Sins, p. 24. 
To us invisible or dimly seen. Milton, P. L., v. 157. 
The barn's wealth dimly showing through the dark. 
William Morri.1, Earthly Paradise, II. 171. 
