ˈminish transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English menusen, minishen, from Middle French menusier, menuiser to lessen, mince, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin minutiare to mince, from Latin minutia smallness, minuteness, from minutus minute + -ia -y — more at minute
archaic : to make less (as in size, amount, or degree) : make fewer in number : diminish in power or influence : lessen
have minished their numbers — Sir Walter Scott
would not … minish by a tittle the respect due to the Magistrate — J.R.Lowell
without … muddling it up with myths which simply minish its interest — George Saintsbury