reduce English · revision 3755

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1375|origins=la dūcō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /rɪˈdjuːs/, US /rɪˈduːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|reducen|t=to lead back, bring back]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|reducer]] and directly [[der|la|redūcere|t=to lead back, bring back; restore]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|re-|t=back]] and [[m|la|dūcere|t=to lead, bring]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*deuk-|t=to lead]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[duct]], [[deduce]], [[induce]] and [[tow]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To bring back to mind: about 1375 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Barnhart dates redusen to about 1375 as “bring or lead back, bring down”, and “to trace to a source” to probably about 1378, in Wycliffe's writings.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense was “to bring back”, to a place or state, hence “to restore”;^(NODE 1998)^(Etymonline) in Middle English it was largely positive, “to bring back to virtue, to God, to health”.^(Etymonline) Trench shows how in 17th-century writers, such as Holland, Bacon and Shakespeare, a thing ''reduced'' was brought back to its former, often larger or happier, state.^(Trench 1859) “To bring to an inferior condition” is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) “to subdue by force of arms” from the 1610s,^(Etymonline) and “to bring to a lower rank” from the 1640s, with the military ''reduce to the ranks'' from 1802.^(Etymonline) The sense “to diminish” is dated about 1380 by Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the 16th century by Hoad,^(Hoad 1986) and 1787 by Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1375 – to bring back.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1378 – to trace to a source.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – to diminish, in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – to bring to an inferior state.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – to subdue.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – to lower in rank.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1802 – ''reduce to the ranks''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make smaller in size, amount or degree; to [[diminish]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To bring to a weaker, poorer or humbler state.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[conquer]] or subdue.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To lower in rank; to [[demote]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In [[chemistry]], to remove oxygen from, or add electrons to, a substance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In cooking, to thicken a sauce by boiling.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To lose weight, as by dieting.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[reducer]]

+ * [[reducibility]]

+ * [[reducible]]

+ * [[reducibly]]

+ * [[reductant]]

+ * [[reducing agent]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reductase]]

+ * [[reduction]]

+ * [[reductive]]

+ * [[duct]]

+ * [[deduce]]

+ * [[induce]]

+ * [[produce]]

+ * [[seduce]]

+ * [[conduct]]

+ * [[duke]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}