different between dampen vs reduce

English

Etymology

From damp +? -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?dæmp?n/

Verb

dampen (third-person singular simple present dampens, present participle dampening, simple past and past participle dampened)

1. (transitive) To make damp or moist; to make moderately wet.
2. (intransitive) To become damp or moist.
3. (transitive) To lessen; to dull; to make less intense (said of emotions and non-physical things).
   • 1883 "Pomona's Daughter", Frank R. Stockton, in The Century, vol. XXVI, number 1, May, page 25

     He was dreadfully familiar with everything, and talked about some places we were longing to see in a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm.

   • 2007 October 16, Jane E. Brody, “Despite Strides, Listeria Needs Vigilance”, The New York Times,

     Pregnant women are 20 times as likely as other healthy young women to contract listeriosis, probably because in pregnancy the immune system is dampened to prevent rejection of the fetus.
4. (intransitive) To become damped or deadened.

Translations

Anagrams

• dampne, madnep

Danish

Noun

dampen c

1. definite singular of damp

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?mp?(n)/
• Hyphenation: dam?pen
• Rhymes: -?mp?n

Etymology 1

From damp +? -en. The meaning “to vape” is a semantic loan from English.

Verb

dampen

1. (intransitive) to steam, to give off steam or smoke
2. (intransitive) to vape (to inhale the vapour of an electronic cigarette)

   Synonym: vapen

Inflection

Derived terms

• bedampen
• indampen
• uitdampen
• verdampen

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

dampen

1. Plural form of damp

Middle English

Verb

dampen

1. Alternative form of dampnen

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

dampen m

1. definite singular of damp

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

dampen

1. definite singular of damp

English

Etymology

From Middle English reducen, from Old French reducer, from Latin red?c? (“reduce”); from re- (“back”) + d?c? (“lead”). See duke, and compare with redoubt.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???dju?s/, /???d?u?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???du?s/
• Rhymes: -u?s

Verb

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.
2. (intransitive) To lose weight.
3. (transitive) To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
   • 1815, Walter Scott, Guy Mannering

     My father, the eldest son of an ancient but reduced family, left me with little.

   • a. 1694, John Tillotson, The Folly of Scoffing at Religion

     nothing so excellent but a man may falten upon something or other belonging to it whereby to reduce it .

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Having reduced their foe to misery beneath their fears.

   • Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced.
4. (transitive) To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.

5. (transitive) To bring to an inferior state or condition.

6. (transitive, cooking) To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.
   • 2011, Edward Behr and 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.

7. (transitive, chemistry) To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.
8. (transitive, metallurgy) To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
9. (transitive, mathematics) To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
10. (transitive, computer science) To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm.
11. (transitive, logic) To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form
12. (transitive, law) To convert to written form. (Usage note: this verb almost always appears as "reduce to writing".)

13. (transitive, medicine) To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment.
14. (transitive, military) To reform a line or column from (a square).
15. (transitive, military) To strike off the payroll.
16. (transitive, Scotland, law) To annul by legal means.
17. (transitive, obsolete) To translate (a book, document, etc.).

Synonyms

• (to bring down): cut, decrease, lower
• (cooking): inspissate; see also Thesaurus:thicken

Antonyms

• (to bring down): increase

Related terms

Translations

See also

• reducing agent

References

• reduce in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin redux (“that returns”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?r?.du.t??e/

Adjective

reduce (plural reduci) (da)

1. returning (from)

   Synonym: ritornato

Noun

reduce m or f (plural reduci)

1. survivor

   Synonym: sopravvissuto

2. veteran (of a conflict)

   Synonyms: veterano, ex combattente

Anagrams

• ducere

Latin

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /re?du?.ke/, [r??d?u?k?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re?du.t??e/, [r??d?u?t???]

Verb

red?ce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of red?c?

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?re.du.ke/, [?r?d??k?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?re.du.t??e/, [?r??d?ut???]
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?re.du.ke/, [?r?d??k?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?re.du.t??e/, [?r??d?ut???]

Adjective

r?duce

1. ablative masculine singular of r??dux
2. ablative feminine singular of r??dux
3. ablative neuter singular of r??dux

Romanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /re?dut?e/, [re??d?ut?e?]

Verb

a reduce (third-person singular present reduce, past participle redus) 3rd conj.

1. (transitive) to reduce, to lessen

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• duce

See also

• ar?duce

Spanish

Verb

reduce

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of reducir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of reducir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of reducir.