DIMINUTION, noun [Latin] 1. The act of lessening; a making smaller; opposed to augmentation; as the diminution of size, of wealth, of power, of safety. 2. The state of becoming or appearing less; opposed to increase; as the diminution of the apparent diameter of a receding body. 3. Discredit; loss of dignity; degradation. 4. Deprivation of dignity; a lessening of estimation. 5. In architecture, the contraction of the upper part of a column, by which its diameter is made less than that of the lower part. 6. In music, the imitation of or reply to a subject in notes of half the length or value of those of the subject itself.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI