Decrease
/dɪˈkriːs/noun
To become or make something smaller in amount, size, or degree.
Did you know?Decrease comes from Latin *dēcrēscere*, built from *dē-* (“down, away”) + *crēscere* (“to grow”), so its oldest sense is not just “less,” but “to un-grow.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ker-
“to grow”
Latin
Latin
crescere
“to grow, increase, rise”
Latin
Latin
dēcrēscere
“to grow less, wane, diminish”
Old French
Old French
decreiss- / decroiss-
“to decrease, diminish”
Middle English
English
decrese
“to become smaller or less”
Modern English
English
decrease
“to become or make smaller in amount, size, or degree”