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more about decrement
decrement |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Decrement \Dec"re*ment\, n. [L. decrementum fr decrescere See {Decrease}.] 1. The state of becoming gradually less decrease; diminution; waste; loss Twit me with the decrements of my pendants. --Ford. Rocks, mountains, and the other elevations of the earth suffer a continual decrement. --Woodward. 2. The quantity lost by gradual diminution or waste; -- opposed to {increment}. 3. (Crystallog.) A name given by Ha["u]y to the successive diminution of the layers of molecules, applied to the faces of the primitive form by which he supposed the secondary forms to be produced. 4. (Math.) The quantity by which a variable is diminished. {Equal decrement of life}. a The decrease of life in a group of persons in which the assumed law of mortality is such that of a given large number of persons, all being now of the same age, an equal number shall die each consecutive year. b The decrease of life in a group of persons in which the assumed law of mortality is such that the ratio of those dying in a year to those living through the year is constant, being independent of the age of the persons. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: decrement n 1: the amount by which something decreases [syn: {decrease}] [ant: {increase}] 2: a process of becoming smaller [syn: {decrease}] [ant: {increase}, {increase}]
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