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attenuate

at·te·nuate

UK/əˈtɛn.juˌeɪt/ US/əˈten.jʉˌæɪt/ uncommon
adjective (1) verb (2)

adjective

1.

reduced in strength

  • “the faded tones of an old recording”
Synonyms
Similar

verb

1.
2.

become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude

Origin

The verb is first attested in 1530, the adjective in 1626; borrowed from Latin attenuātus, the perfect passive participle of attenuō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + tenuo (“to make thin”), itself from tenuis (“thin”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.