decrease

English

Etymology

From Middle English decresen, alteration of discresen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)
(verb) enPR: dĭkrēs', IPA^(key): /dɪˈkɹiːs/
(noun) enPR: dē'krēs, IPA^(key): /ˈdiːkɹiːs/
Rhymes: -iːs

Verb

decrease (third-person singular simple present decreases, present participle decreasing, simple past and past participle decreased)

(intransitive) Of a quantity, to become smaller.
The quality of our products has decreased since the main designer left.
(transitive) To make (a quantity) smaller.
Let's decrease the volume a little so we can hear each other talking.

Synonyms

(become smaller): drop, fall, go down, plummet (rapidly), plunge (rapidly), reduce, shrink, sink; See also Thesaurus:decrease
(make smaller): abate, cut, decrement, lower, reduce; See also Thesaurus:diminish

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “become larger”): go up, grow, increase, rise, soar (rapidly), shoot up (rapidly); See also Thesaurus:increase
(antonym(s) of “make larger”): increase, increment, raise, up (informal); See also Thesaurus:augment

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

become smaller

Armenian: փոքրանալ (hy) (pʻokʻranal), պակասել (hy) (pakasel)
Assamese: কমা (koma)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܵܨܹܪ (bāṣēr)
Azerbaijani: azalmaq (az), düşmək (az) (with ablative)
Bulgarian: намаля́вам се (namaljávam se)
Catalan: decréixer (ca), disminuir (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 減少 / 减少 (zh) (jiǎnshǎo), 下降 (zh) (xiàjiàng)
Danish: formindske, forringe (da)
Dutch: afnemen (nl), verminderen (nl)
Esperanto: malpliiĝi, malaltiĝi
Finnish: vähentyä (fi), pienentyä (fi), pienetä (fi), vähetä (fi)
French: diminuer (fr)
Galician: diminuír (gl), minguar (gl)
Gallurese: affluscià
German: abnehmen (de)
Alemannic German: schwiine
Greek: μειώνομαι (el) (meiónomai), λιγοστεύω (el) (ligostévo)
Ancient: μινύθω (minúthō)
Hebrew: פחת (he) (pakhát)
Hindi: घटना (hi) (ghaṭnā)
Hungarian: csökken (hu)
Ido: diminutar (io)
Irish: laghdaigh
Italian: diminuire (it), calare (it)
Japanese: 減少する (ja) (げんしょうする, genshō suru), 減る (ja) (へる, heru)
Kazakh: азаю (azaü)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کەم کردن (kem kirdin)
Maori: pāitiiti
Middle English: discresen
Norwegian: forminske (no), forringe
Persian: کاستن (fa) (kâstan)
Portuguese: diminuir (pt), reduzir (pt)
Romanian: descrește (ro), scădea (ro)
Russian: уменьша́ться (ru) impf (umenʹšátʹsja), уме́ньшиться (ru) pf (uménʹšitʹsja), снижа́ться (ru) impf (snižátʹsja), сни́зиться (ru) pf (snízitʹsja), понижа́ться (ru) impf (ponižátʹsja), пони́зиться (ru) pf (ponízitʹsja)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: calai, menguai

Logudorese: menguare, minimare
Sassarese: miminà, abbracà
Spanish: disminuir(se), mermar(se), descrecer (es), decrecer (es), decrementarse
Swedish: minska (sv)
Turkish: azalmak (tr), düşmek (tr)

make smaller

Assamese: কমোৱা (komüa)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܒܨܸܪ (mabṣir)
Azerbaijani: azaltmaq (az)
Bulgarian: намаля́вам (bg) (namaljávam)
Catalan: disminuir (ca)
Czech: snížit (cs)
Dutch: verminderen (nl)
Esperanto: malpliigi, malaltigi (eo)
Finnish: laskea (fi), vähentää (fi), pienentää (fi)
French: diminuer (fr), réduire (fr)
Galician: minguar (gl), diminuír (gl)
German: verringern (de)
Greek: μειώνω (el) (meióno), ελαττώνω (el) (elattóno)
Hebrew: הפחית (hifkhít)
Hindi: घटना (hi) (ghaṭnā)
Hungarian: csökkent (hu)
Ido: diminutar (io)
Ingrian: vähentää
Irish: laghdaigh
Italian: diminuire (it), far calare, ribassare (it), ridurre (it), decrementare
Japanese: 減少させる (ja) (げんしょうさせる, genshō saseru), 減らす (ja) (へらす, herasu)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کەم کردن (kem kirdin)
Middle English: discresen
Portuguese: diminuir (pt), reduzir (pt)
Russian: уменьша́ть (ru) impf (umenʹšátʹ), уме́ньшить (ru) pf (uménʹšitʹ), понижа́ть (ru) impf (ponižátʹ), пони́зить (ru) pf (ponízitʹ), снижа́ть (ru) impf (snižátʹ), сни́зить (ru) pf (snízitʹ)
Sardinian:
Logudorese: mèngua
Spanish: disminuir (es), mermar (es), decrementar (es)
Swedish: minska (sv), förringa (sv)
Turkish: azaltmak (tr), düşürmek (tr)
Vietnamese: hạ (vi)

Noun

decrease (countable and uncountable, plural decreases)

An amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased.
After six years of constant growth, the company reported a slight decrease in sales last year.

One research team has recorded Baishui’s decrease at about 27 meters per year over the last 10 years.
(knitting) A reduction in the number of stitches, usually accomplished by suspending the stitch to be decreased from another existing stitch or by knitting it together with another stitch. See Decrease (knitting).

Synonyms

(amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased): cut, decline, decrement, drop, fall, loss, lowering, reduction, shrinkage

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased”): gain, increase, increment, raise (US, of pay), rise

Derived terms

Translations

amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased

Bulgarian: намаляване (bg) n (namaljavane), намаление (bg) n (namalenie)
Catalan: disminució f, decreixença f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 減少 / 减少 (zh) (jiǎnshǎo)
Finnish: lasku (fi), vähenemä, vähennys (fi)
Galician: diminución (gl) f, mingua f, devalo m
German: Verringerung (de) f
Greek:
Ancient: ἐλάττωσις (eláttōsis)
Hungarian: csökkenés (hu)
Irish: laghdú m
Italian: diminuzione (it) f, calo (it) m, ribasso (it) m, riduzione (it) f
Japanese: 減少 (ja) (げんしょう, genshō)
Latin: dēcrēmentum (la) n
Maori: ero
Norwegian: forringelse
Old English: æfwela m (of wealth)
Persian: کاهش (fa) (kâheš)
Polish: spadek (pl) m, ubytek (pl) m
Portuguese: redução (pt) f, diminuição (pt) f
Quechua: yawyay
Russian: уменьше́ние (ru) n (umenʹšénije), сниже́ние (ru) n (snižénije)
Spanish: disminución (es) f, merma (es)
Swedish: minskning (sv) c
Ukrainian: зме́ншення n (zménšennja), зни́ження n (znýžennja)

Anagrams

deceaser