reduce - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English reducen, from Old French reduire, from Latin redūcō (“reduce”); from re- (“back”) + dūcō (“lead”). See duke, and compare with redoubt.

reduce (third-person singular simple present reduces, present participle reducing, simple past and past participle reduced)

  1. (transitive) To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower.
    Synonyms: cut, decrease, lower; see also Thesaurus:diminish
    Antonyms: enlarge, increase; see also Thesaurus:augment
    to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.
    • 2012 January, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 10 November 2013, page 60:
      Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.
    • 2022 January 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Emergency timetables as absences surge due to COVID”, in RAIL, number 948, page 6:
      Most train operators have reduced services with emergency timetables, as they struggle to cope with a rapid increase in staff absences due to the Omicron variant of COVID.
    • 2024 May 17, Orko Manna, “Toll lane project on Interstate 80 between West Sacramento and Davis gets green light”, in KCRA‎[2], archived from the original on 22 May 2024:
      Drivers like the idea of increasing traffic flow and reducing congestion on the portion of I-80 between Davis and West Sacramento.
  2. (intransitive) To lose weight.
  3. (transitive) To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
    Synonyms: disparage, humble, relegate, sink; see also Thesaurus:demean
    to reduce a sergeant to the ranks
    • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
      My father, the eldest son of an ancient but reduced family, left me with little.
    • 1671, John Tillotson, “Sermon II. The Folly of Scoffing at Religion. 2 Pet[er] III. 3.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC:
      nothing so excellent but a man may falten upon something or other belonging to it whereby to reduce it .
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:
      Neither [Jones] […] nor I (in 1966) could conceive of reducing our "science" to the ultimate absurdity of reading Finnish newspapers almost a century and a half old in order to establish "priority."
  4. (transitive) To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.
    Synonyms: overcome, surmount, vanquish; see also Thesaurus:defeat
    to reduce a province or a fort
  5. (transitive) To bring to an inferior state or condition.
    to reduce a city to ashes
  6. (transitive) To be forced by circumstances (into something one considers unworthy).
    reduced to silence
    • 1983 December 31, “What a Drag”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 24, page 9:
      The press release calls him "the hottest female impressionist in show business today." (One wonders how many more words press agents will have to come up with before they are reduced to actually saying "drag queen.")
  7. (transitive, cooking) To decrease the liquid content of (a food) by boiling much of its water off.
    Synonyms: inspissate; see also Thesaurus:thicken
    • 2011, Edward Behr, James MacGuire, The Art of Eating Cookbook: Essential Recipes from the First 25 Years.:
      Serve the oxtails with mustard or a sauce made by reducing the soup, if any is left, to a slightly thick sauce.
  8. (transitive, chemistry) To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.
    Formaldehyde can be reduced to form methanol.
  9. (transitive, metallurgy) To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
  10. (transitive, mathematics) To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
  11. (transitive, computer science) To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm.
  12. (transitive, logic) To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form.
  13. (transitive, law) To convert to written form. (Usage note: this verb almost always appears as "reduce to writing".)
    It is important that all business contracts be reduced to writing.
  14. (transitive, medicine) To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment.
  15. (transitive, military) To reform a line or column from (a square).
  16. (transitive, military) To strike off the payroll.
  17. (transitive, Scots law) To annul by legal means.
  18. (transitive, phonetics, phonology) To pronounce (a sound or word) with less effort.
    The first vowel of support is reduced to schwa by most English speakers.
  19. (transitive, obsolete) To translate (a book, document, etc.).
    a book reduced into English

to bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something

to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture

to decrease the liquid content of (a food) by boiling

computer science: to express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm

logic: to convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form

law: to convert to written form (as in "reduce to writing")

medicine: to perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment

military: to reform a line or column from (a square)

military: to strike off the payroll

Scots law: to annul by legal means — see annul

(obsolete in English) to translate (a book, document, etc.) — see translate

Translations to be checked

reduce

  1. inflection of reducir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Inherited from Latin redux (“that returns”).

reduce m or f by sense (plural reduci)

  1. returning [_with_ da ‘from’]

reduce m or f by sense (plural reduci)

  1. survivor
    Synonym: sopravvissuto
  2. veteran
    Synonym: veterano

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

reduce

  1. third-person singular present indicative of (archaic) redurre

  2. ^ reduce in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2025

  3. ↑ 2.0 2.1 reduce in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

redūce

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of redūcō

rĕduce

  1. ablative masculine/feminine/neuter singular of rē̆dux

Borrowed from Latin reducere, French réduire, based on duce. Compare the inherited doublet arăduce.

a reduce (third-person singular present **reduce, past participle redus, third-person subjunctive reducă) 3rd conjugation

  1. (transitive) to reduce, to lessen

reduce

  1. inflection of reducir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative