English → Latin
“decrease” in Latin
minuōto make smaller, lessen, diminish, reduce, minimize; to attenuate, appease, suppress, repress, quell; to dismember, tearimmineōto project, bend or lean toward or over, overhang; to touch on, border upon; to threaten, menaceextenuōto thin, reduce, diminishlevōto raise, elevate, lift up; to make light, lighten; to relieve, ease, comfortsublevōto lift up or raise (from underneath); to support, sustain, assist or encourage; to lighten or alleviateēlevōto raise or elevate; to alleviate or sooth; to weaken, lessenlēniōto soften, soothe; to mollify, assuage, appease, pacifyvectīgaltax, tribute, (public) revenue; windfall, profit, (private) revenuemolestiatrouble, troublesomeness, irksomeness; uneasiness, annoyance; molestationcōpiasupply, abundance, copiousness, wealth, riches; plenty, fulness, multitude; opportunity, facilities (the means of doing
The English word decrease itself goes back to Latin crēscō, through decrescere.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
decrease
TRANS., minuere (to make less in number, magnitude, weight, and importance; opposed to augere, e.g., vectigalia; alicujus gloriam; molestias; potentiam et auctoritatem senatus): imminuere (also opposed to augere, e.g., the number of the Senate, numerum patrum; troops, copias; anybody’s renown, alicujus laudem): deminuere aliquid or de aliqua re (to make less by taking away from anything, e.g., vectigalia; vires; aliquid de potestate): extenuare (to decrease by abating; e.g., sumptus; molestias; spem): levare; sublevare (to decrease by making lighter; e.g. pretium, annonam; inopiam; pericula): elevare (to decrease, both in a good sense and in a bad; e.g., aegritudinem; sollicitudinem; auctoritatem; fidem alicujus rei): lenire (to decrease by lessening the sensation of anything; e.g., dolores; febrem quiete; morbum temperantia): deminuere aliquid de aliqua re (by deducting; e.g., a Grecian mina by deducting five drachmae, de mina una quinque numos j; ☞ diminuere and comminuere cannot be used in this sense): detrahere aliquid de aliqua re (e.g., de tota pecunia quinquagesimam partem).
decrease
INTRANS., decrescere (to grow less, shorter, etc.; opposed to crescere; e.g., dies, pondus, admiratio; flumina, etc.): minui; se minuere; also minuere only (to become less): imminui (to decrease inwardly): remitti; se remittere; also remittere only (to decrease or abate; e.g., of rain, cold, fever, etc.): levari; sublevari (to become lighter): leniri; mitigari (to become milder): defervescere (to become less hot; e.g., aestus, ira, etc. defervescit). Vid. LESSEN, INTRANS.
decrease s.
deminutio; imminutio: extenuatio: remissio: mitigatio: levatio [SYN. in LESSEN]. (☞ Vitr., 9, 14, has quotidiana decrescentia lunae; for which he uses deminutio a little before): defectio (e.g., virium). Compare the substantive with the verbs from which they are derived, under To DECREASE.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for decrease?
- The usual Latin words for “decrease” are minuō, immineō, extenuō; also levō, sublevō, ēlevō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.