attenuate

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The Word of the Day for December 2 is:=20

attenuate   \uh-TEN-yuh-wayt\   verb
          1 : to make thin or slender
    *2 : to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of : weaken
     3 : to reduce the severity, virulence, or vitality of

Example sentence:
          The use of computers, with their quiet keyboards, has greatly =
attenuated the noise level of the office, but Dee misses the sound of cl=
acking typewriters.

Did you know?
          "Attenuate" ultimately comes from a combination of the Latin p=
refix "ad-," meaning "to" or "toward," and "tenuis," meaning "thin." It =
has been on the medical scene since the 16th century, when a health trea=
tise recommended eating dried figs to attenuate bodily fluids. That trea=
tment might be outmoded nowadays, but "attenuate" is still used in medic=
ine to refer to procedures that weaken a pathogen or reduce the severity=
 of a disease. Most often, though, "attenuate" implies that something ha=
s been reduced or weakened by physical or chemical means. You can attenu=
ate wire by drawing it through successively smaller holes, or attenuate =
gold by hammering it into thin sheets. You can even attenuate the moment=
um of a play by including too many costume changes.=20





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