Etymograph

English

attenuate

Attenuate comes from Latin attenuātus ‘thinned, reduced, attenuated’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattenuātus‘thinned, reduced, attenuated’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851attenuate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattenuātus‘thinned, reduced, attenuated’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851attenuate

Earliest quotation: 1851, Sir Francis Palgrave: “We may reject and reject till we attenuate history…”

first attested first attested in 1530 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

The verb is first attested in 1530, the adjective in 1626; borrowed from Latin attenuātus, the perfect passive participle of attenuō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (‘to, towards, at’) + tenuo (‘to make thin’), itself from tenuis (‘thin’) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Every English word from Latin attenuātus

Today it means

verb To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin attenuātus / attenuate

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