reduce

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make something smaller in size, amount, or degree.

   Usage: Use reduce by for the amount of a decrease and reduce to for the final amount. The two prepositions answer different questions.

   Better insulation should reduce the building's energy use by twenty percent.

   The new policy aims to reduce traffic in the city center.

2. 2
   verb

   To make something simpler or break it down to a basic form.

   She reduced the problem to a single question.

3. 3
   verb

   To force someone into a worse or lower position.

   The war reduced once-wealthy families to poverty.

4. 4
   verb

   To boil a liquid so that some of it evaporates and it becomes thicker.

   The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Reduce entered English in the late Middle English period and ultimately derives from Latin ducere, “to lead.” Its historical formation meant “bring back.”

Through French reduire, from Latin redūcō, combining re-, back, with dūcō, to lead, whose infinitive is dūcere.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary