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单词 lessen
释义

lessenv.

Brit. /ˈlɛsn/, U.S. /ˈlɛs(ə)n/
Forms: late Middle English lasned (past tense), late Middle English lassen, late Middle English leccon, late Middle English lesnyd (past participle), late Middle English lessewynge (present participle, transmission error), late Middle English lessnyd (past participle), late Middle English lessone, late Middle English lessyn, late Middle English–1500s lesson, late Middle English (1600s Scottish) lesned (past participle), late Middle English– lessen, 1500s lesning (present participle), 1600s leasen, 1600s lessining (present participle), 1600s lessned (past participle).
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: less adj., -en suffix5.
Etymology: < less adj. + -en suffix5. Compare earlier less v.
1.
a. intransitive. To become less in size, quantity, amount, scope, severity, etc.; to decrease.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)]
narrowOE
waneOE
smallOE
slakec1380
welk1390
fade1398
lessenc1400
minish?a1425
decay1489
adminisha1500
diminish1520
to grow downwards?1523
ungrow1598
scant1607
settlea1642
to run off1765
dwarf1776
comminute1850
downsize1977
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)]
littleOE
setc1000
wanzec1175
lessc1225
allayc1275
wane1297
slaken1303
disincreasec1374
slakec1380
decrease1382
debatea1400
unwaxa1400
wastea1400
adminishc1400
lessenc1400
imminish14..
aslakec1405
minish?a1425
assuagec1430
shrinkc1449
to let down1486
decay1489
diminish1520
fall1523
rebate1540
batea1542
to come down1548
abate1560
stoop1572
pine1580
slack1580
scanten1585
shrivel1588
decrew1596
remit1629
contract1648
subside1680
lower1697
relax1701
drop1730
to take off1776
to run down1792
reduce1798
recede1810
to run off1816
to go down1823
attenuatea1834
ease1876
downscale1945
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 441 Þenne lasned þe loȝ lowkande togeder.
c1475 (a1400) Brut (Douce) 10 For Kyng Goffarys peple myght euery day encrece mo & mo, & Brutes lassen.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) clxxxvii Quhen lessen gan my sore.
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. f. 144 I will..unlace the very secretes of my minde, not for that I hope..that my passions by declaration of them, wil lessen and diminishe.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island i. xli. 11 The world might die to live, and lessen to increase.
1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa ii. ii. 162 To re-advance all the Noble Families in Rome, that began to lessen and decay in their splendour.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 90 The River..lessened every Step we went.
a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) i. 51 A Flint of Cylindric Figure, only lessening a little toward each end.
1745 J. Wesley Answer to Rev. Church 10 My Regard for them lessen'd.
1798 W. S. Landor Gebir i. 182 I..seemed to lessen and shrink up with cold.
1823 C. Lamb New Year's Eve in Elia 66 In proportion as the years both lessen and shorten.
1864 Standard 15 Jan. 2/4 During the late frost the water in the Ettrick and Yarrow had gradually lessened.
1941 D. M. Wolfe Milton in Puritan Revol. ix. 256 We find his [sc. Milton's] confidence in them [sc. the people]..gradually thereafter lessening.
1996 S. Mootoo Cereus blooms at Night (1999) iii. 216 The pain in his chest did not lessen.
2008 Independent 11 June 29/2 The trend has by no means lessened in the last few years.
†b. intransitive. Of something observed: to decrease in apparent size owing to the effect of distance (originally of a bird in flight). Also transitive (reflexive). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (reflexive)]
reduce?c1400
lessen1604
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)] > apparently
lessen1604
pinpoint1951
1604 M. Drayton Owle sig. E2 You Sun-bred Ayerie..By how much neerer you ascend the Skye, Doe lessen still to euery mortall eye.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 473 The Romaine Eagle From South to West, on wing soaring aloft Lessen'd her selfe, and in the Beames o' th' Sun So vanish'd. View more context for this quotation
1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. i. v. 9 The wealth of the Land doth begin (to use the Faulconer's phrase) to flie to lessen.
a1720 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) I. 93 Away she flies,..She lessens to us, and is lost at last.
a1771 T. Gray Ode in W. Mason Mem. Life & Writings (1775) 236 The Sky-Lark..lessening from the dazzled sight, Melts into air and liquid light.
1795–7 R. Southey Juvenile & Minor Poems in Poet. Wks. (1837) II. 56 As the white sail is lessening from thy view.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 30 Spain, lessening to a chart, beneath it swims.
1859 C. Kingsley Misc. (1860) l. 145 The warm dark roof lessening away into endless gloom.
1912 A. Bennett Your U.S. i. 3 She passed on, bearing away the dish.., and lessened into a puppet on the horizon of the enormous hall.
2.
a. transitive. To make less in size, quantity, amount, scope, severity, etc.; to diminish.In quot. a1616 intransitive with object implied; compare sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)]
littleeOE
anitherOE
wanzelOE
lessc1225
slakea1300
littenc1300
aslakec1314
adminisha1325
allayc1330
settle1338
low1340
minisha1382
reprovea1382
abatea1398
rebatea1398
subtlea1398
alaskia1400
forlyten?a1400
imminish14..
lessenc1410
diminish1417
repress?a1425
assuagec1430
scarcec1440
small1440
underslakec1440
alessa1450
debate?c1450
batec1460
decreasec1470
appetisse1474
alow1494
mince1499
perswage?1504
remita1513
inless?1521
attenuate1530
weaken1530
defray1532
mitigate1532
minorate1534
narrow?1548
diminuec1550
extenuate1555
amain1578
exolve1578
base1581
dejecta1586
amoinder1588
faint1598
qualify1604
contract1605
to pull down1607
shrivel1609
to take down1610
disaugment1611
impoverish1611
shrink1628
decoct1629
persway1631
unflame1635
straiten1645
depress1647
reduce1649
detract1654
minuate1657
alloy1661
lower?1662
sinka1684
retreat1690
nip1785
to drive down1840
minify1866
to knock down1867
to damp down1869
scale1887
mute1891
clip1938
to roll back1942
to cut back1943
downscale1945
downrate1958
slim1963
downshift1972
c1410 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (BL Add.) (1882) VIII. 327 (MED) Lasseneþ [a1387 St John's Cambr. Suche peynes..lasseþ his peynes in purgatorie].
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 5368 Ser, if þou lessen my life, na lowere þou wynnes.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 114 (MED) If sweche a diminucion byfall yn a creature, his kynde also shall be lessenyd to hym.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 607/1 His treasure is lessened sythe I knewe hym first.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. iii. 13 Consider, When you aboue perceiue me like a Crow, That it is Place, which lessen's, and sets off. View more context for this quotation
1632 T. Heywood Iron Age i. sig. D It could not..Leasen my zeale to you.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlvi. 373 Other things that serve to lessen the dependance of Subjects.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No 34. 220 The late Tax upon Books and Pamphlets will lessen the Number of Scriblers.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. vi. 60 We once or twice lessened our water to forty fathom.
1793 Blackstone's Comm. I. 277 (note) The increase of our paper has only a tendency to lessen the value of money at home.
1850 N. Hawthorne Scarlet Let. xv. 213 She upbraided herself for the sentiment, but could not overcome or lessen it.
1878 W. S. Jevons Polit. Econ. 64 It is one thing to lessen the hours of work; it is another thing to increase the rate of wages per hour.
1971 Nature 2 July 18/2 Aspirin does not lessen pain in skin, elicited by noxious substances, but it does lessen pain in other sites.
2009 Independent 28 May 12/2 An analysis of nine clinical trials found that music had a beneficial effect on lessening pain when premature babies were subject to procedures such as heel prick blood tests.
b.
(a) transitive (in passive). To undergo loss or curtailment of, to be deprived of. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > loss > lose [verb (transitive)]
losec950
forgarc1175
letc1200
leese?c1225
forgoc1275
tinec1300
wanta1425
lessena1500
becosta1522
amit1525
perish1531
to make shipwreck of1588
to come short of1690
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 114 Kepe þe fro vche mysauentrous man, þat ys lesnyd of any membre.
1556 L. Pollard Fyve Homilies sig. C.iii* Yf men were perfectly instructe..in this, then shulde men stande lessenedeof al other sences, and yet shulde thynges muche better floryshe and prosper with vs then they do.
1793 Ld. Nelson Let. 21 Feb. in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) I. 301 I will not suffer any poor fellow to be lessened of his due.
1834 Dublin Penny Jrnl. 13 Dec. 187/1 The air, lessened of its weight and pressure, becomes unable to support it [sc. the mercury] at its average height.
1912 J. P. Duggan Isle of Eden vii. 77 Dismay at the parting of the ways from other friends was lessened of its pain.
1952 W. W. Buckland & A. D. M. McNair Roman Law & Common Law (ed. 2) ii. 54 The institution became an anachronism and it was gradually lessened of content till it disappeared.
(b) transitive (in passive). To be reduced in some quality; to be diminished in regard to.
ΚΠ
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 54 The Lords thus lessened in their judiciary power.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 38 Lessened..in that only quality upon which our Friggats most value themselves.
1771 J. Burrow Rep. Cases King's Bench 3 1344 The Surface of the Ground is lessened in Value.
1886 Lancet 20 Mar. 530/2 The ball-and-socket between the astragalus and scaphoid is deepened and lessened in area.
1998 J. Corcoran & C. Franklin in T. S. Nelson & T. S. Trepper 101 More Interventions in Family Therapy xcvii. 482 Times when the problem..is lessened in intensity or frequency.
2010 D. Morgan Essential Buddhism iv. 129 A large gift given sullenly is lessened in value.
†c. transitive. Mathematics. To express (an equation) in its simplest terms; to simplify. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > perform algebra [verb (transitive)] > eliminate quantity or simplify
cancel1543
lessen1668
destroy1706
eliminate1736
exterminate1743
rationalize1816
1668 J. Glanvill Plus Ultra iv. 36 How to convert the false Roots into true, to avoid Fractions, and to lessen Æquations.
†3. transitive. To represent (a person or thing) as less in some respect, to make less in estimation; to extenuate, palliate (a fault); to disparage, cast a slur upon (a person, a person's character or behaviour, etc.). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique f. 96 We make our doynges appere lesse, when with wordes we extenuate and lessen the same.
1585 C. Fetherston tr. J. Calvin Comm. Actes Apostles xxvi. 12. 564 They goe about to lessen or paint [L. extenuare aut fucare] these thinges, for which they ought humbly..to craue pardon.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus ii. 14 They obscure the brightnesse of this our sunne of righteousnesse, and lessen the merits of his sufferings.
1677 W. Wycherley Plain-dealer i. 2 I never attempted to abuse, or lessen any person, in my life.
1714 R. Steele Lover No. 24. (1723) 143 Whenever..you have the evil Spirit upon you to lessen any Body you hear commended.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xxviii. 200 I am far from wishing to lessen the merit of this single benevolent action.
1799 Ld. Nelson Let. 9 Nov. in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) IV. 96 Your Royal Highness will not believe that I mean to lessen the conduct of the Army; I have the highest respect for them all.
1822 Port Folio May 389 Whoever attempts to lessen his character, will only injure himself.
1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) xii. 290 The meaner pleasure with which the ordinary observer often exerts himself to lessen a heroic figure.
4. transitive. To lower the dignity, position, or character of; to degrade, demean. Now only reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > make humble [verb (transitive)]
edmodienc1175
lowc1175
meekc1175
lessa1382
abatec1390
abasea1393
belowc1400
meekenc1400
disadvance?c1425
simplec1450
lowlyc1485
humilea1492
chasten1526
to pare the nails ofa1549
lessen1579
vail1582
to take (something) a hole lower1591
destate1615
humblea1616
thorough-humblea1617
humiliate1656
level1712
unnichea1751
to level up, down1791
unpedestal1821
to take the starch out of1830
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > degrade [verb (transitive)]
vile1297
supplanta1382
to bring lowa1387
revilea1393
gradea1400
villain1412
abject?a1439
to-gradea1440
vilifyc1450
villainy1483
disparage1496
degradea1500
deject?1521
disgraduate1528
disgress1528
regrade1534
base1538
diminute1575
lessen1579
to turn down1581
to pitch (a person) over the bar?1593
disesteem1594
degender1596
unnoble1598
disrank1599
reduce1599
couch1602
disthrone1603
displume1606
unplume1621
disnoble1622
disworth?1623
villainize1623
unglory1626
ungraduate1633
disennoble1645
vilicate1646
degraduate1649
bemean1651
deplume1651
lower1653
cheapen1654
dethrone1659
diminish1667
scoundrel1701
sink1706
demean1715
abjectate1731
unglorifya1740
unmagnify1747
undignify1768
to take the shine out of (less frequently from, U.S. off)1819
dishero1838
misdemean1843
downgrade1892
demote1919
objectify1973
1579 J. Field tr. J. Calvin Thirteene Serm. v. f. 56v For Iacob..sought not to enlarge him selfe to the end to lessen his brother.
1619 F. Rous Arte of Happines i. i. 3 He that proposeth for an End, a seeming good, but a reall euill,..shall substantially lessen and ruine himselfe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 304 Nor shalt thou by descending to assume Mans Nature, less'n or degrade thine owne. View more context for this quotation
1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 32 The making of new Lords lessens all the rest.
1706 M. Prior Ode to Queen 192 When swift-wing'd rumour told..How lessen'd from the field Bavar was fled.
1706 D. Defoe Jure Divino xi. 7 King Charles the First..whenever he invaded their Priviledges, had the Misfortune to see his Mistake, and lessen himself, by undoing all he had done before.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 245 It lessened him much in esteem of all the world.
1788 Disinterested Love I. xvi. 102 Captain Beville lessens himself infinitely in my estimation by his conduct.
1803 Lady's Monthly Museum July 20 They do not know how much they lessen themselves in the opinion of every man of feeling and sense.
1861 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 Oct. 415/2 Not only..must he be careful to do no act which can lessen himself or his calling..; but he must remember that even some thoughtless act..may lead to mischief.
1951 Anthropos 46 19 Cepkemoi and Cerob..have lessened themselves to a certain extent in old-fashioned Dorobo eyes by marrying Nandi.
2008 Guardian (Nexis) 29 Mar. 6 His failure to see how he lessens himself by scorning what he has that is treasurable and honourable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

lessenconj.

Brit. /ˈlɛsn/, U.S. /ˈlɛs(ə)n/
Forms: 1800s less-n, 1800s– less'n, 1900s lass'n, 1900s lessun, 1900s– 'lessin', 1900s– lessen, 1900s– lessin', 1900s– lessn, 2000s– 'lessin, 2000s– lessin.
Origin: Perhaps formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: less conj., an element of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Probably < less conj. + an element of uncertain origin, probably reflecting a reduced pronunciation either of than conj. (compare the early combinations at less conj. 1, and also and conj.2) or perhaps of and conj.1 (compare and conj.1 II.). Compare slightly later unlessen conj.
English regional (south-western) (now rare), U.S. regional (southern) and Bahamian.
Unless. Cf. less conj. 1.
ΚΠ
1874 ‘M. Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Nov. 593/1 I's gwine to fine my ole mammy, less'n she's dead.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. at Less than Thick there wall's safe to vall down less-n he's a-pausted to once.
1902 G. E. Dartnell in Eng. Dial. Dict. III. 577/1 A wun't come, lass'n 'e be paid vor't.
1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman xxiii. 298 ‘Ain't that yore pinto?’ queried Slick. ‘Less'n I'm blind,’ agreed the cow-punch.
1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 35 And they aint going to be no luck in saying that name, lessen you going to set up with him while he cries.
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling iii. 23 None o' the dogs bayed him, Pa. Lessen I didn't hear, for sleepin'.
1969 Daily Tribune (Nassau, Bahamas) 2 Aug. 11 It ain't gon grow lessen he bud it wid a good healty mango.
1970 H. Waugh Finish me Off (1971) 133 He's not bothering with girls less'n they're going to do him some good.
2008 Anniston (Alabama) Star (Nexis) 31 Aug. You need to take a teaspoon of honey in the morning for your sinuses..less'n you have a bad cold and then it may not help.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.c1400conj.1874
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