attenuation

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun weakening in force or intensity
noun the property of something that has been weakened or reduced in thickness or density

From Middle English attenuacioun, a borrowing from Latin attenuātiō (“a diminishing”). Equivalent to attenuate + -ion.

Ethel, eating as little as Amy--or even less--had escaped, miraculously, attenuation. — The Gay Cockade, Temple Bailey
It met Clement Yule with no grimace of invitation, with no attenuation of its rich old sadness. — The Two Magics: The Turn of the Screw, Covering End, Henry James
But with an extension of sway has gone attenuation, and the term has lost something of its original significance and precision. — A history of economic doctrines : $b from the time of the physiocrats to the present day, Charles Gide

fading

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