attenuate
to weaken, thin, or reduce
Roots
- ad- / a-: to, toward, added onto, or intensified
- tenu / tenuis: thin, slender, weak, or stretched
Other words with the tenu / tenuis root
- attenuation: weakening or reduction in force
- extenuate: to make a fault seem less serious
- extenuating: making guilt or blame seem less severe
- tenuity: thinness or slenderness
- tenuous: thin, weak, or slight
Tenu gives thin. To attenuate is to make a force, signal, feeling, or argument thinner and weaker.
Distance attenuated the signal until the message arrived in broken pieces.
Attenuate is thinning in action. A sound fades, a medicine weakens, anger cools, or an argument loses force. The thing is still there, but less dense than before.