attenuate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 20, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>attenuate</strong> &#149; \uh-TEN-yuh-wayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of : <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weaken">weaken</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> to reduce the severity, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virulence">virulence</a>, or vitality of</p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> to make thin or slender</p> <p><strong>4 :</strong> to make thin in consistency <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefy">rarefy</a></p> <p><strong>5 :</strong> to become thin, fine, or less</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>The use of computers, with their quiet keyboards, in place of typewriters greatly <em>attenuated</em> the noise level of the office.</p> <p>"Fans who attend Double-A games this year will see a couple of new rules…. During the first half of the season, all infielders must have their feet on the dirt when a pitch is thrown, <em>attenuating</em> the major defensive shifts that have become prevalent in baseball in recent years, and in the season's second half, no shifting will be permitted at all." — <a href="https://www.dailycitizen.news/sports/local_sports/chattanooga-lookouts-returning-to-action-after-a-year-off/article_d503585f-c6a0-50c3-ad1a-9e65cbe58886.html">Ryan Anderson, <em>The Daily Citizen-News</em> (Dalton, Georgia), 15 Apr. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Attenuate</em> ultimately comes from a combining of the Latin prefix <em>ad-</em>, meaning "to" or "toward," and <em>tenuis</em>, meaning "thin," a pedigree that is in keeping with the English word's current meanings, which all have to do with literal or metaphorical thinning. The word is most common in technical contexts, where