Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922.

Class I. Words Expressing Abstract Relations
Section III. Quantity
2. Comparative Quantity
Changes in Quantity

36. Nonincrease, Decrease.

   NOUN:DECREASE, diminution, decrescence, decrement, diminishment, lessening &c. v.; subtraction [See Nonaddition. Deduction], reduction, rebatement [rare], abatement, declension; shrinkage (contraction) [See Contraction]; coarctation [obs.]; curtailment, abridgment (shortening) [See Shortness]; extenuation.
  SUBSIDENCE, wane, ebb, decline; ebb tide, neap tide, ebbing; descent [See Descent]; reflux, depreciation, wear and tear, erosion, consumption; deterioration [See Deterioration]; anticlimax; mitigation (moderation) [See Moderation]; catabasis [med.].
   VERB:DECREASE, diminish, lessen; abridge (shorten) [See Shortness]; shrink (contract) [See Contraction]; drop off, fall off, tail off; fall away, waste, wear; wane, ebb, decline; descend [See Descent]; subside; melt away, die away; retire into the shade, hide its diminished head, fall to a low ebb, run low, languish, decay, crumble, erode, consume away.
  BATE, abate [archaic], dequantitate [obs.]; discount, belittle, minify [rare], minimize, minish [rare], depreciate; extenuate, lower, weaken, attenuate, fritter away; mitigate (moderate) [See Moderation]; dwarf, throw into the shade; reduce [See Contraction]; shorten [See Shortness]; subtract [See Nonaddition. Deduction]; deliquesce, ease, remit [rare].
   ADJECTIVE:UNINCREASED &c. (see increase [See Increase]); decreased, decreasing &c. v.; decrescent, reductive; deliquescent, contractive; decrescendo; on the wane &c. n.
   ADVERB:decrescendo, decreasingly.
   QUOTATIONS:

1. A gilded halo hovering round decay.—Byron
2. Fine by degrees and beautifully less.—Prior