Word of the day: Attenuate

Attenuate

[ə-TEN-yoo-eyt]

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Latin, 16th century

1.Reduce the force, effect, or value of.

2.Reduce in thickness; make thin.

Examples of attenuate in a sentence

"Taking small trips outside in a frigid climate can help attenuate your experience of the extreme cold."

"Wallpaper and thick rugs can help attenuate the echo in a room."

About Attenuate

“Attenuate” is based on the Latin “attenuāre,” meaning “to make thin.”

Did you Know?

In electronics, to attenuate something is to take a strong signal and make it weaker. In the world of music and audio, it's sometimes necessary to attenuate the electronic signals of certain devices without altering their overall sound. For example, because amplifiers sound different at various levels of volume, a guitar player may discover that the exact tone she wants to get from her guitar only occurs with her amp cranked to ear-splitting volume. To fix this problem, the guitarist might invest in an attenuator, allowing her to dial up her amp to the warm, crackling, high-volume tone she wants, before also turning down the volume on that tone to a level that her fans can enjoy without covering their ears.