▪ I. † reˈduce, n. Obs.—1
[f. next.]
Reduction.
| 1549 Edw. VI in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 692/1 That from hencefourth ye haue an earnest & special regard to the reduce of these things. |
▪ II. reduce, v.
(rɪˈdjuːs)
Also 5 reduyse, 5–7 reduse.
[ad. L. redūcĕre to bring back, restore, replace, f. re- re- + dūcĕre to lead, bring. Cf. F. reduire (14th c., Oresme) and † reducer (15th c.), Sp. reducir, It. ridurre.
The original sense of the word, ‘to bring back’, has now almost entirely disappeared, the prominent modern sense being ‘to bring down’ or ‘to diminish’. A clear arrangement of the various uses (many of them found only in the language of the 15–17th centuries) is rendered difficult by the extent to which the different shades of meaning tend to pass into or include each other.]
I. trans.
† 1. a. To bring back, recall (a thing or person) to one's memory, mind, etc. Obs. (Common in 16th c.)
| c 1375 Sc. Troy-bk. (Horstmann) ii. 2973 Redusand to his fresche memore His deidly dreme, he saw before. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 383 Leste that he scholde reduce to his mynde the dethe of his sonne by the siȝhte of theyme. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. Prol. 45 Ane similitude of hell, Reducyng to our mynd..Goustly schaddois of eild and grisly deid. 1559 in Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 437 It will pleise your Grace reduce to your remembrance, how..we required [etc.]. 1594 Peele Battle of Alcazar iii. iv, So freshly to my mind Hath this young prince reduced his father's wrong. 1624 Wotton Archit. ii. in Reliq. (1672) 66 Reducing often to my memory that conceit of the Roman Stoick. |
† b. To bring back, recall (the mind, thoughts, etc.) from or to a subject. Also without const. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 205 His disciples cowthe reduce theire myndes from wickede thouȝhtes thro musike and songe. 1563 Foxe A. & M. 403/1 Luther diligently reduced the mindes of men to the Sonne of God. a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 292 Then cease,..And with these words reduce thy Thoughts that Roame. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. ii. (1701) 65/2 Pericles..could easily reduce the exercise of his mind from secret abstrusive things to publick popular causes. 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. 317 To Janus' Altars, and the numerous Throng,..Ambitious Muse reduce the roving Song. 1706 Reflex. upon Ridic. 58 Whatever digressions I made, he still reduc'd the discourse to the same subject. |
† c. To bring (one) back to a recollection of something. Obs. rare—1.
| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 F iij, He reduceth vs to mynde of that he hath sayde before. |
† 2. To lead or bring back (a person) to, into, from, etc. a place or way, or to a person. Obs. a. In figurative context. (Common in 16–17th c.)
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 1 Preying also ilke man to reduce me in to þe riȝt wey,..if I haue gon beside þe wey. a 1535 Fisher Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 439 So must y⊇ heretickes be reduced vnto y⊇ wayes of y⊇ churche. 1563 Grindal Rem. (Parker Soc.) 263 Excommunication..is the ordinary mean..to reduce men to God. 1641 Milton Prel. Episc. Wks. (1851) 74 Doing my utmost endeavour..to reduce them to their firme stations under the standard of the Gospell. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers i. 15 He that Errs in the Entrance is not so easily reduced again into the Right Way. 1726–31 Tindal tr. Rapin's Hist. Eng. xvii. (1743) II. 52 Their attempt to reduce the Protestants within the Pale of the Romish Church. |
| absol. 1650 W. Brough Sacr. Princ. (1659) 473 This..Reduces to a Paradise both of Joy and Innocence. |
b. In literal sense.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 54/1 God..shal reduce and brynge you agayn unto the londe of your faders. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. ii. 84 Gif Orpheus mycht reduce agane..From hell his spousis gost. 1563 Golding Cæsar vi. (1565) 174 Wyth the losse of two cohorts he reduced the rest to Duracort. a 1636 C. Fitzgeffrey Compass. Captives i. (1637) 19 Extend your charity..towards the redeeming and reducing them home. a 1677 Barrow Wks. (1830) I. 276 Blessed be God, who..did reduce him to his country. a 1727 Newton Chronol. Amended ii. (1728) 223 Bacchus appeased him with wine, and reduced him back into heaven. |
c. (Without const.) To bring back again.
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 91 For all his trauayle he reduced (I cannot say reclaymed) but a straggeler. 1609 Bible (Douay) 2 Kings xix. 10 How long are you stil, and reduce not the king? 1642 Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. xvi. 83 Reduce, replant our Bishop President. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. Pref. 1 Mercury's Statue was placed in the Cross-ways, to guide Men in the right way, and to reduce them that were out. |
† 3. To bring (a thing) back to or into a place; also Sc., to bring (coin) in again to the mint. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 488 Newe statutes were ordeynede..of the staple to be reducede from Mirbonrach to Caleys. 1581 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. III. 463 The late silver cunyie..sould be reducit and brocht in agane, to be cunyeit of new. 1588 D. Rogers in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 152 He causeth manie superstitious and popish ceremonies to be reduced into the Church. 1627 Sybthorpe Apostol. Obed. 20 So the papists lye at waite..to reduce superstition into England. |
† 4. a. To take back, refer (a thing) to its origin, author, etc. Obs.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. lix. 139 Grace reduciþ all þinges to god, of whom þei welliþ oute groundely & originaly. 1607–12 Bacon Ess., Great Place (Arb.) 284 Reduce thinges to the first Institucion, and observe wherein and how they have degenerate. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 47 All regular motions and actions may be reduced to one certain beginning. |
† b. To carry back in time. Obs. rare—1.
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. xii. §4 (1622) 342 But Plutarch himselfe reduceth it higher; not allowing of any mortall man to bee the first inuentor. |
5. To bring back, restore (a condition, state of things, time, etc.). Now rare.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 120 b, To reduce his yongth in suche wise as he shall seme..in the aage of xxxij yere. 1549 Compl. Scot. xi. 90 Ȝour foir fathers..reducit there liberte, quhilk vas ane lang tyme in captiuite. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 232 Rage can neither reduce thy fathers life, nor recouer his treasure. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. v. 36 Abate the edge of Traitors..That would reduce these bloudy dayes againe. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 207 The States..cannot on the sudden reduce perfection in the profession of Religion. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 98 The endeavours to reduce popery and subvert the true protestant religion. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Old Benchers Inner T., While childhood, and while dreams, reducing childhood, shall be left. |
6. Surg. To restore (a dislocated, fractured, or ruptured part) to the proper position.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. N iv b. The .vj. place is vpon the matryce, and vpon the bowelles for to reduce and withdrawe them to theyr places. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. xvi. 66 If any bones be broken, they are to be reduced. 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 912 Salt with meal and honey, takes away the pain of a joynt that is dislocated,..and makes it more apt to be reduced. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xi. (1840) 197 He reduced the splinters of the bone, and calling for help, set it. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 202 A man who had dislocated his shoulder, and had had it reduced by a celebrated bone-setter. |
b. To adjust, set (a dislocation or fracture).
| 1836 Marryat Japhet vii, We reduced the dislocation. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxv. V. 306 The jolting of the rough roads..made it necessary to reduce the fracture again. |
† 7. a. To draw or pull back again. Obs. rare.
| 1611 L. Barry Ram Alley i. i, By her actiuity she got it [her leg]..Crosse her shoulder: but not with all her power Could she reduce it. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xi. (1632) 379 The Seamen..Reduce their oares, vp-rising from their Banks With equall strokes. |
† b. To take back (a reckoning). Obs. rare—1.
| c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 57 The master himselfe was deceaved in the swifte gate of our shipp, and caused our Generall to reduce his reckninge back some 50 leagues. |
II. † 8. a. To lead or bring back from error in action, conduct, or belief, esp. in matters of morality or religion; to restore to the truth or the right faith. Obs. (Very common c 1600 to 1700.)
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 183 (Digby MS. 232 lf. 29) Of that arte I hadde as tho no gyde Me to reducen whan I went awrong. c 1485 Digby Myst. v. 313 Whan I erryd, thu reducyd me, Iesus. 1556 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 245 One Friar John..travelled with him to reduce him. But it would not be. 1590 A. Hutchinson in Greenwood Collect. Sclaund. Art. C, To confer with him about his seperating of himself from the Church of England, if I might reduce him. 1643 Milton Soveraigne Salve 1 If any of these erring men may be reduced, I have my end. 1674 Allen Danger of Enthusiasm 20 This very thing..would in great part reduce you, and set you to rights. 1710 R. Ward Life H. More 62 Philotheus presently reduceth him with this sober and edifying Discourse. 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. II. iv. xi. 69 So is the knowledge of the passions..necessary to him whose office it is to reduce those who have erred. |
† b. Const. from (an error, etc.). Obs.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 19 b, Howe they of Boheme should be reduced from their errours. a 1614 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 91 It is not a better understanding of nature, which hath reduced us from it. 1686 Parr Life Usher 93 This Holy Primate..laboured instantly to reduce Popish Recusants and Sectaries from their Errors. 1713 Berkeley Hylas & Phil. Pref., If these principles..are admitted for true..men [will be] reduced from Paradoxes to common Sense. |
† 9. a. To bring back or restore (a person, etc.) from or to a state or condition. Obs.
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. i. 166 To reduce a synner from the estate of mortall synne, unto the estate of grace. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man ii. (1603) 94 To reduce him againe to his former gravitie and course of life. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. xix. 384 For the satisfaction of their revenge they..would have reduced them unto life again. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xli. 334 By letting in the Air again, we soon reduc'd him to his former liveliness. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 106 Reducing him from the most abject and stupid Ferity, to his Senses, and to sober Reason. |
† b. To bring (a thing, institution, etc.) back to a former state. Also without const. Obs.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 63 Which to reduce into our former fauour You are assembled. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. viii. (1840) 192 Matters for the main [were] reduced to the same estate they were at the first peace. 1666 Evelyn Diary 17 Aug., I entreated [him] to visit the Hospital of the Savoy and reduce it..to its original institution. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxii. 225 So that the Church of England was reduced to the same good state wherein it was in the latter years of K. Edward. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. ii, As if he would signify that I should reduce them to their former Shape. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 21 If once a fruit is become deformed, no art will then reduce it. |
† c. To redress, repair (a wrong). Obs. rare—1.
| c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta i. ii, Till they reduce the wrongs done to my father. |
† 10. a. To bring (a person or thing) to or into a certain state or condition. Obs.
| a 1450 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 1, I aske þis questyon wyche bynne þe menys & cause to reduse a man to a mery spryte. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 12 Fraunce was enhaunced & reduced to mageste ryal. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 103 The prynce ys no thyng in boundage therby, but rather reducyd to true lyberty. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. iv. xvi. (1588) 582 This Fine (that is reduced to certaintie by the discretion of the Iustices). 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶2 Seeking to reduce their Countrey-men to good order and discipline. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. (title-p.), By reducing Boggy or Drowned Land to sound Pasture. 1664 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 76 The Romans..reduced the natural Inhabitants from their Barbarism to the Society of civil Life. 1713 Swift Cadenus & Vanessa Wks. 1751 VII. 17 With pleasing Arts she could reduce Men's Talents to their proper Use. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. i, She was..the engine that by her prudence reduced me to that happy compass I was in. |
| refl. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 103 All things, the more perfect they are, the more do they reduce themselves towards that unity, which is the centre of all perfection. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 56 These proud Philosophers aspired..to reduce themselves to a friendship with the great though unknown God. |
† b. To bring (a person) to some belief or opinion. Also absol. Obs.
| 1563 Foxe A. & M. 1008/1 Whom I besech the Lorde to reduce to a better truth. 1570 Ibid. (ed. 2) 67/1 At what time, the wholsome doctrine of the Gospell allured and reduced the hearts of all sorts of people vnto the true religion of God. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 21 The natures..of the other [being] to withdraw, disswade or reduce to another meaning. 1712 [see reduction 4 c]. |
† c. With inf. To lead or induce to do something. Obs.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 672 The lorde Marques could by no meanes be reduced to take any part against king Edwarde. 1571 Digges Pantom. Pref. A iv, Suche two footed Moules and Todes..maye not possibly..be reduced or moued to taste or sauour any whitte of vertue. 1628 Ford Lover's Mel. i. ii, He knows no reason but he may reduce The courtiers to have women wait on them. 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. vi. (1701) 257/1 That which moveth the Taste, and reduceth it to act. |
d. To bring (a theory, etc.) to (or into) practice, action, etc.
| 1625 C. Brooke On Sir A. Chichester Poems (1872) 209 Of armes and arts, he had the theorie, which he reduc't to practise. 1668 Howe Bless. Righteous 116 Heretofore some gracious dispositions have been to seek..when there was most need and occasion for their being reduced into act. 1709 Pope Let. to Cromwell 7 May, I thought your observation..not a rule without exceptions, nor that ever it had been reduc'd to practise. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 139 Reduced to practice, his beloved rule Would only prove him a consummate fool. a 1871 Grote Eth. Fragm. iv. (1876) 81 Dispositions..reduced into action. |
† e. To bring to a determination, to settle. Obs.—1
| 1616 Sir C. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 250 They say they have now reduced it to have the money brought in, in eight years. |
† 11. a. To adapt (a thing) to a purpose. Also without const., to apply, expound, explain. Obs. rare.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxix. 216 (Add. MS.), This Emperour may be saide herode, the kyng..Or els it [the story] may be reduced on a nother maner. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §7 To reduce and brynge the same text to my purpose, I take it thus. 1530 Palsgr. 682/1 All the artycles whiche he hath layde agaynst me I truste to reduce them to my purpose. 1609 Sir T. Bodley Let. in Pietas Oxon. (1903) 8, I could not busie myselfe to better purpose, then by redusing that place..to the publique vse of Studients. |
† b. To make conformable or agreeable to a standard. Obs.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §116 It admitted an interpretation of reducing the government of the Church in Scotland to this of England. 1662 Gerbier Princ. 38 By the not reducing whatsoever is represented to the true Lines of Perspective. |
c. Astron. To adapt (an observation) to a particular place or point; to correct by making the necessary allowances for position and other modifying circumstances. (Cf. reduction 6 c.)
| 1633 Gellibrand in T. James Voy. R 3, The [moon's] true place at midnight reduced to the Ecliptique. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. x. 73 Observations, therefore, seen at the surface, must be reduced to the center. 1866 Herschel Fam. Lect. Sc., Comets (1871) 101 From these observations so far as they have as yet been communicated and reduced [etc.]. 1881 Donnelly in Nature No. 625. 594 To collect..all information on this subject, and finally to reduce the Indian observations. |
† 12. a. To bring into another language; to render, translate. Obs.
| 1484 Caxton Curiall 1 At whos instance and requeste I have reduced it in to Englysshe. 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 410 Lo he repreifis..Ay word by word to reduce ony thing. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) O o vij, The translatours, that haue laboryously reduced this treatyce out of Greke into Latin. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. i. i. (1588) 5 Bracton (who reduced the body of our law into Latine). |
† b. To set down or record in writing; to put down or draw in a map. Obs.
| 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 1 Al thynges that ben reduced by wrytyng ben wryton to our doctryne. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 897 To reduce and to put by writtynge the maner how I have proceded. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 46 He..being nowe inflamed with the admiration of your martiall exploites,..is very desireous, to reduce them in a Chronicle. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire i. (1891) 5 Amonge diuerse other thinges of the xiii Sheres of Wales reduced according to arte. |
† 13. To bring to one by way of acquisition. Obs.
| 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 1 The King..hath determyned hym self to passe..in to his Realme of Fraunce and to reduce the possession thereof..to hym and his heires Kinges of Englond. 1596 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law i. (1636) 2 The admission of my Clerke, whereby the inheritance is reduced to mee, is the act of the Ordinary. |
14. a. To bring († into or) to a certain order or arrangement.
| 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 8/1 The said Ezechias also reduced the Priests and Leuits into their orders. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. xxi. 248 marg., The way might be more compendious by the rootes reduced to Classes. 1666 Pepys Diary 25 Dec., Reducing the names of all my books to an alphabet. 1729 Butler Serm. Self-deceit Wks. 1874 II. 125 A great part..of the intercourse amongst mankind, cannot be reduced to fixed determinate rules. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. Ded., The rules..were..reduced to the just order in which they now stand. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) I. 167 When one set of anomalies had been discovered, and reduced to rule. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 21 The infinite would be no longer infinite, if limited or reduced to measure. |
b. To bring to († into or under) a specified number of classes or heads; also, to assign or refer to a certain class.
In some cases passing into sense 26.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 146 b, All the counseyles of our lorde Jesu Chryst may be reduced to these nyne. c 1560 (title) Summe of Christianitie, reduced unto eight propositions. 1647 May Hist. Parl. Pref., I will only professe to follow that one Rule, Truth, to which all the rest..may be reduced. 1676 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. 1 Many things..may all be reduced to these three general heads. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece ii. xii. (1715) 302 Hither may also be reduc'd another sort of Divination. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 7. 43 Those who set up for Criticks in Poetry..may be reduced to two Classes. 1718 Free-thinker No. 62 ¶5 These Presages..may be reduced under Seven Principal Denominations. |
† c. (Without const.) To bring into proper order; to assign to the proper class or classes. Obs.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. Ded. a j b, The species of Natural bodies,..if they were (so far as they are yet known and discovered) distinctly reduced and described. 1692 Ray in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 198 The..reducing and settling the severall histories and relations of species, will be a thing of eminent use. Ibid. 203 He hath abundance of Jamaica plants, which if in your Catalogue it is very difficult to reduce them, especially his Felices. |
15. a. To bring († into or) to a certain form or character. (Cf. 12 a.)
| c 1592 Marlowe Massacre Paris i. viii, I knew the Organon to be confus'd, And I reduc'd it into better form. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate (1639) Pref. 3 Galen..reduced the Science [medicine] into a more perfect Art. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 216 The Ambassador ordered me to reduce Persia and Turkie into one Map. a 1693 Wood Antiq. Oxf. (1786) 56 They began..to pull down their buildings, which stood without any method, and to reduce them..into a quadrangular pile. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. i, A second Word, much harder to be pronounced; but reducing it to the English Orthography may be spelt thus, Houyhnhnm. 1836 H. Rogers J. Howe ii. 26 Nevertheless, it may be very useful..to attempt to reduce it to such a form. |
| refl. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 12 Whilest the Piquers and other weapons doo reduce themselues into forme vnder their Ensignes. |
b. To put into, commit to, writing. (Cf. 12 b.)
| 1659 Heylin Examen Hist. i. 230 Why was not the Protestation reduced into writing? 1711–12 Swift Let. Eng. Tongue Wks. 1751 IV. 243 All which reduced to writing would entirely confound Orthography. 1747 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. V. 78 Having reduc'd into writing the Transaction..touching the Delivery of the three Negroes. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. i. 10 A small body of Aryan customs reduced to writing in the fifth century b.c. |
16. a. Arith. To change (a number or quantity) from one denomination into or to another.
Commonly conveying some suggestion of sense 26, as resulting either in a smaller number or in one composed of smaller units.
| 1579 Digges Stratiot. 23 The Numerator of the last Fragment to be reduced. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. i. xxvii. (1636) 75 Then in like order reduce your Divisor into the smallest Fraction, and you shall find the totall summe [etc.]. 1674 S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 156 To reduce the Denominations of Measure, Weight,..&c. of one Kind or Countrey to another. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Surveying 7 G 2/2 If the content to be reduced, be cast up into acres, roods, and perches, reduce all into perches, and then in other respects work as before. 1823 Mitchell Dict. Math. & Phys. Sci. 419/2 Reduce the compound quantity to its lowest denomination, and the whole integer to the same denomination. |
| absol. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Surveying 7 G 1/2 Multiply the number of half feet contained in a pole of that measure you would reduce into. |
b. To change (a quantity, figure, etc.) into or to a different form. Also absol.
| 1579 Digges Stratiot. i. xii. 21 To reduce, is to bring Integers into Fractions or contrarie. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 43 To reduce a Trapezia into a Triangle. 1676 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. A v, There will be 18 rod of Brick⁓work in the Wall, which may all be reduced to a brick and an half thick. 1706 W. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 89 To Reduce an Integer into an Improper Fraction. 1743 Emerson Fluxions 82 The given Fluxion may be reduced to another Expression. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 405/1 To reduce an Integer to the Form of a Fraction. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §88 In estimating the price of brick-work in Britain, the quantity, of whatever nature and thickness it may be, is always reduced to walls of one and a half brick in thickness. |
c. To resolve by analysis. Const. to.
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxix. 399, I shall now endeavour to reduce the ripples to their mechanical elements. |
17. a. To turn to, convert into, a different physical state or form; esp. to break down, grind, or crush to powder, etc.
| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xiii. 56 The black feces..being reduced..into a calxe. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 15 They reduce dates into a paste, and it serves them instead of bread. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 39 Their Bodies being reduced into Ashes,..God shall create them a-new. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Urine, The first step is to reduce that liquor to the consistence of a rob or thick extract. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 825 Reduce the tartrate and sugar to powder. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 33/1 The first process is that of reducing the iron-stone or ore..into a metallic state by means of fusion. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron vi. 92 Since ferrous carbonates are reduced to the state of ferric oxide [etc.]. |
b. Metall. To convert into metal; to smelt.
| 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 361 When the ore of an Iron mine is found difficult to reduce, it is usually neglected even though it be rich. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 687 By the year 1788, several attempts had been made to reduce iron ore with coaked coal. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxiii. 599 In the infancy of the metallurgic arts lead was much more easily reduced than iron. |
c. Chem. To decompose (a compound); to resolve into a simpler compound or into the constituent elements. Hence in mod. use, the opposite of oxidize v.; to cause to undergo reduction.
| 1741 tr. Cramer's Assaying 51 When refractory Calx of Iron is to be reduced by a great and long lasting Fire. 1800 Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 213 To reduce the oxide of iron, charcoal must be added. 1872 Mining Mag. & Rev. I. 250 When oxides are heated with carbon, the oxygen they contain combines with the carbon to form two invisible gases..which pass away into the air, the ore being thus ‘reduced’. 1873 C. H. Ralfe Phys. Chem. 202 Since uric acid also has the power of reducing cupric sulphate [etc.]. 1890 W. Jago Inorg. Chem. iii. 48 There are other examples of reduction in which the bodies are simply reduced to a lower stage of oxidation. 1935 J. W. Mellor Comprehensive Treat. Inorg. & Theoret. Chem. XIV. lxvii. 608 Cobaltic fluoride in hydrogen at 200°..is reduced to cobaltous fluoride. 1955 Sci. News Let. 7 May 297/2 Using heats as high as 3,100 degrees Fahrenheit, quartzite rock is reduced with coke and charcoal. 1971 Nature 1 Jan. 13/1 The resulting electrons are used to reduce carbon dioxide to carbohydrate. 1974 Sci. Amer. Dec. 68/3 The molecule that has lost electrons is said to have been oxidized; the one that has received them is said to have been reduced. Thus in photosynthesis water is oxidized and carbon dioxide is reduced. |
d. To break up (soil) into fine particles.
| 1763 Museum Rust. I. 144 The land cannot be stirred too deep:..the more the earth is reduced the more nourishment will it afford. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 604 It is the custom..to reduce the cloddy surface well by means of harrowing. |
18. Logic. To bring a syllogism († or proposition) into a different but equivalent form, spec. to one of the moods of the first figure.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Reduction of propositions, The proposition preceding the particle is reduced. 1845 Whately Logic ii. iii. §4 All arguments may be in one way or other brought into some one of the four Moods in the First Figure: and a Syllogism is, in that case, said to be reduced. 1864 Bowen Logic vii. 195 The motives for reducing the three lower Figures to the First. |
III. 19. a. To bring to (or into) order, obedience, reason, etc., by constraint or compulsion.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxii. 78 The resolucion..of his courage is euer reduced to thobeyssaunce of y⊇ goddes. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 9 §2 The subiectes therof..subdued and redused diuers and many regions and countreis to their due obeisance. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 198 They requested them to reduce and frame [L. adducerent] him to his dewtie. 1654 Bramhall Just Vind. i. (1661) 5 Whensoever they have occasion to reduce the Pope to reason. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 241 The King of æthiopia..marched out against them [Jews], reduced them to duty. 1751 Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 32 His first step, was to reduce to reason and obedience his reverend brethren the chapter of St. Patrick's. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §46. 412 Nor can any one [church]..reduce all the others to subjection. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. x. 108 The clergy could not be allowed to reduce Crown and barons into entire submission to their own pleasure. |
† b. To make subject to one; to cause to give obedience or adherence to; to bring under one, into or under one's power, within bounds, etc. Obs.
| 1569 T. Stocker tr. Diod. Sic. ii. xxii. 73/2 He reduced likewise..all the townes and cities of the Messenians to him. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 32 He the six Islands comprovinciall In auncient times unto great Britainee, Shall to the same reduce. 1628 Abp. Williams Serm. 34 When shall I see the day, when all my Affections reduc't vnder reason, I may pronounce this happy word, Vici, I haue ouercome them. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 17/2 Solon perswaded also the Athenians to reduce into their power the Thracian Chersonesus. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 544 The Shot tumbled out..; neither was it an easie matter to reduce them again within Bounds. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. vi. ix. §3 God..will yet reduce him under my power. |
† c. To place under, to bring or unite to, one. Obs.
| 1588 Copy of Letter to Mendoza in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 65 Governed by the principal noblemen..and reduced under captains of knowledge. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vii. xxvii. 584 The greate difficultie they haue founde to reduce those Indians to Christ. 1630 Capt. Smith Trav. & Adv. 49 Some English and Irish..he reduced to his company and to leave the Dutch. |
d. Law. To bring (a thing or right) into († to) possession.
| 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. 433 Unless he reduces them to possession, by exercising some act of ownership upon them, no property vests in him. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 45 Rights not yet reduced into possession. 1884 Law Times Rep. L. 199/2 All that the husband has a right to do is to reduce such property into possession if he can. |
20. a. To bring (a place) into subjection, to subdue, conquer; spec. to capture (a town, fortress, etc.); to compel to submit or surrender.
| 1612 Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1787) 8 The late king of Spain could sooner win the kingdom of Portugal, than reduce the states of the Low Countries. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 253 To leave the French..untill the Netherlands were wholly reduced or quieted. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 295 Chester was reduced by famine. 1780 Coxe Russ. Disc. 187 A body of troops whom he sent before him to reduce the fortress found it quite deserted. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 405 The whole of Persia and the Uzbek country were invaded and reduced by the Arabs. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. viii. (1880) 132 The young King set out with his army to reduce the revolted towns. |
b. To bring (a person) under control or authority, to subdue, conquer. † Also, to reclaim or domesticate (animals).
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. i. Ark 518 Reducing, with industrious care, The Flocks and Droves cover'd with wool and hair. 1666 Evelyn Diary 7 Sept., The clamor and peril..made the whole Court amaz'd, and they did with..greate difficulty reduce and appease the people. 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. 32 The Son of Mars reduc'd the trembling Swains. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xvii, If they were reduced, they should be brought to the gallows. 1777 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 5 Aug., Do you think..you shall be able to manage me again? I suppose..that you are thinking how to reduce me. a 1842 Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) II. xxxv. 403 Ptolemy reduced the several petty kings of the island, and made himself master of it. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. iii. 35 Those of the natives who have but lately been reduced. |
c. With inf. To constrain, compel, force (a person) to do something.
| 1622 Bacon Hen. VII (1876) 17 To reduce aliens being made denizens, to pay strangers customs. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes iii. 156 Having reduced them to receive Christianity, he imposed the same Law upon them. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Reduction, The other [method]..whereby the person..is reduced to assert or grant something absurd and impossible. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. xi, A blow..reduced him to measure his length on the ground. 1894 Meredith Ld. Ormont ii, Poor gentlemen reduced to submit to any but a young woman's hug. |
† d. To overcome, subdue, repress, moderate (a desire, temper, etc.). Obs.
| 1643 Milton Divorce 10 Mariage cannot be honourable for the meer reducing and terminating lust between two. 1704 Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 417 Not being able to reduce the Temper of the Tyrant or procure Justice. 1706 Stanhope Paraphr. III. 13 We reduce and restrain our Desires of things agreeable here. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 45 It was necessary..their tempers be reduced by my kindness to them. |
† e. To crush (a rebellion). Obs. rare—1.
| a 1687 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 6 The Army who reduced the Rebellion, did..consist of near 35000 Men. |
f. To make (land) fit for cultivation. ? Obs.
| 1762 J. Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 151 Another method of reducing barren boggy land, in Ireland, is by laying upon it a little dung or straw, and covering this with shells. |
21. a. To bring down to a bad or disagreeable condition.
| 1572 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 23 Scotland wes reducet to gret extremeties. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 22 The continual rains reduced it [a province] to..a deplorable condition. 1671 Milton Samson 1468 Having reduc't Thir foe to misery. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 8.54 Thousands of their Fellow-Subjects may be reduced to Want. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ii. 219 Thus were we all..reduced to the utmost despair. 1777 Watson Philip II, ii. I. 27 His children..had reduced him to the painful necessity of taking arms against them. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 41 He found himself reduced almost to penury. 1868 Gladstone Juv. Mundi i. (1870) 4 The Dorian conquest had the immediate effect of reducing Mycenae to obscurity. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 216 Are not those who train in gymnasia, at first beginning reduced to a state of weakness? |
b. In pass., with inf. To be compelled by want to do something; also, to be hard put to it.
| 1693 Dryden Juvenal i. 163 The poor Patrician is reduc'd to keep, In Melancholly Walks, a Grazier's Sheep. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 59 ¶6 The Garrison is brought to the utmost Necessity;..they were reduced to eat Horse-Flesh. 1743 H. Walpole Let. 4 May, Poor creature! he was reduced..to borrow five guineas of Sir Francis Dashwood. 1768 ― Hist. Doubts 100 Henry was so reduced to make out any title to the crown that he catched even at a quibble. 1807 Trans. Highl. Soc. III. 472, I rather think they are poisoned by being reduced to eat such unwholesome food. 1834 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 6 She is every other day reduced to borrow my tumblers, my teacups. |
c. To bring down to a smaller allowance.
| 1819 Shelley Cenci ii. ii. 13 If you..were reduced at once From thrice-driven beds of down, and delicate food,..To that which nature doth indeed require. |
d. To weaken physically.
| 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 80 An ulcer..which had reduced the patient exceedingly, and brought her life into imminent danger. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxii, Fever and ague..hung about him for many weeks, and reduced him sadly. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 288 The men seemed half crazy: I had not realized how much we were reduced by absolute famine. |
e. To diminish the strength of (spirit).
| 1880 Act 43 & 44 Vict. c. 24 §67 A distiller may..reduce with water any plain spirits. |
f. Photogr. To decrease the density of (a negative or print).
| 1889 E. J. Wall Dict. Photogr. 158 Bromide prints may be reduced in exactly the same way as negatives. 1903 A. Watkins Photogr. 118 Do not throw away paper prints which are too dark from over printing. They can be reduced. 1956 Focal Encycl. Photogr. 950/1 Before starting to reduce a negative or print it should be well soaked in water. 1963 P. Moyes Murder à la Mode iv. 65 ‘What does {oqq}reducing{cqq} mean, exactly?’ ‘Makin' the print lighter... If the neg's too contrasty, like you can't get the light part to print without the dark's too dark. So you reduce it. By nibbin' the dark part with cyanide.’ |
22. a. To bring down to a lower rank or position, dignity, etc. Also without const. and with inf.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Concl., Wks. (1851) 177 The protestant religion..must undresse them of all their guilded vanities, and reduce them as they were at first to the lowly and equall order of Presbyters. 1667 ― P.L. v. 843 More illustrious made, since he the Head One of our number thus reduc't becomes. 1727 Pope, etc. Art of Sinking ix, The book of Job is acknowledged to be infinitely sublime, and yet has not the father of the Bathos reduced it in every page? 1751 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 180 The articles a and the..circumscribe the latitude of genera and species by reducing them for the most part to denote individuals. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlix. V. 146 The ambition of the popes was reduced to the empty honour of crowning and anointing these hereditary princes. 1811 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 164 The moment they usurp their direction and that of their government, they will be reduced to their true places. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. vii. (1875) 111 By setting the Emperor at the head of the Church to reduce the Pope to the place of chief bishop of his realm. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Feb. 18/4 He was a top sergeant there. His cooking career began in France in July, 1918, when he was ‘reduced’ and made a mess sergeant. 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 154 Reduced, reduced in rank. (Services' colloquialism verging on jargon.) 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxiii. 220 The deputy-governor..had been reduced..because of some trouble in a gaol of which he had been governor. |
b. Mil. in phr. to reduce to the ranks, to degrade (a non-commissioned officer) to the rank of private.
| 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v., If a serjeant be reduced to the ranks, his clothing is to be given in for the use of his successor. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 149 Non-commissioned Officers may be reduced to the Ranks by the Sentence of a Regimental or other Court-Martial. |
† c. To assign (a person) to a more recent date.
| 1704 Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 398 The Chaldæan Traditions carried the Age of the first Zoroaster very high,..but the Examinations made by learned Men reduc'd him almost to the Age of Nimrod. |
23. Sc. Law. To rescind, revoke, annul.
| 1553 Kennedy Compend. Tractive in Wodrow Soc. Misc. (1844) 139 The subjectis mon evir stand at quhilk is done be the hiear poweris,..aye and quhill the samyn be reducit be sufficient ordour. 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. II. 392 Their infeftment salbe reduceit and decernit null. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 127 (Form of Proces xxxvi. §2) Na Iudge may reduce his awne decreit, except the Lords of session. 1646 Bp. Maxwell Burd. Issach. in Phenix (1708) II. 303 No Judgment pass'd there can be rectify'd or reduc'd by any Judicatory..but by themselves. 1742 Acts of Sederunt (1790) 372 [The] arbitrers, who pronounced the decreet now reduced. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 829 The object of this class of actions..is to reduce and set aside deeds, services, decrees, and rights. 1865 Glasgow Herald 25 Mar., His first thought was to have the marriage settlement reduced. |
| absol. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 831 The creditors of an apparent heir may also pursue a reduction..without previously adjudging the right to reduce. |
24. Mil. a. To break up, disband (an army or regiment). ? Obs.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v. Reform, In Military Affairs, to Reform is to reduce a Body of Men, either disbanding the Whole,..or only breaking a Part. 1746 H. Fox in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 409 The Regiments..should be marched into their own counties before reduced,..the other three Regiments not immediately to be disbanded. 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v., When a regiment is reduced, the officers are generally put upon half-pay. |
b. To break up (a square, etc.) and restore the component parts to line or column.
| 1802 James Milit. Dict. |
IV. 25. To bring or draw together. Also refl.
In later use only as implying diminution of bulk.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. viii. 63 (Camb. MS.), Of alle whyche forseyde thinges I may reducen [L. redigere] this shortly in somme. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. xv. 100 Yf he mete ony beste that wold doo hym harme he reduyseth hym self as rounde as a bowle. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 940 To reduce narowly, coarter. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 4 Portugall was then obscure, vntilled, poore, and reduced into streight limits. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 74/2 This was one of those small Villages scattered through Attica, before Theseus Reduc'd the People within the Walls of a City. 1777 Watson Philip II, ii. I. 48 He..reduced the water into a canal large enough to receive some small boats. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlviii. V. 2 The Roman name..is reduced to a narrow corner of Europe. 1807 Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. ii, Reduce this declamation to a point, and let us know what you mean. 1834 Dickens Sk. Boz, Horatio Sparkins, The unfortunate Tom reduced himself into the least possible space. |
26. a. To bring down, diminish to a smaller number, amount, extent, etc., or to a single thing.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 341 b, When thys..semed over long, Clement the sixt reduced [L. redegit] the same unto fifty yeres. 1627 May Lucan vii. M viij b, To what small number is mankind reduc'd. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. vi. §4 But Aquinas doth better reduce the two former to one. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 790 Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms Reduc'd thir shapes immense. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 330 All dangers are reduc'd to Famine. 1762 Ann. Reg. i. 147/1 What remained..were further reduced to half-price. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 403 Recovering..The faculties that seemed reduced to nought. 1827 Scott Napoleon Introd., Wks. 1870 IX. 218 Danton and Robespierre, reduced to a Duumvirate might have divided the power betwixt them. 1853 A. Soyer Pantroph. 271 Wine, reduced to two-thirds by boiling, was added. 1871 Davies Metric System iii. 187 He finds by experience that these [two] may with increased convenience be reduced to one. 1903 E. A. Ross in Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. IX. 197 There never has been a good reason for supposing we shall be able to reduce everything social to a single element. Ibid. 198 It is certain, nevertheless, we cannot reduce the whole man to a ‘cell’ in a ‘social organism’. 1920 Psychol. Rev. XXVII. 71 The psychological simplification of human behaviour, which reduces instinctive conduct to the functioning of psychical dispositions or impulses. |
b. To lower, diminish, lessen.
| 1787 Bentham Def. Usury vii. 69 No law can reduce the rate of interest below the lowest ordinary market rate, at the time when the law was made. 1833 I. Taylor Fanat. vi. 169 Every attempt to reduce the plain import of certain passages in the Gospels. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. x. 114 Step by step..we went on reducing our sledging outfit. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 42 If a current of warm and moist air meet a colder current its temperature is reduced. |
c. intr. To become lessened or limited. Also, to condense, come down to.
| 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. II. 368 Miss Mendax has now lived, for a long time, on a biscuit per diem... She certainly does not reduce on it. 1885 Pall Mall G. 25 June 4/2 Diseased he was, and of a harsh Northern strain, but all the carping reduces at last to this. 1895 J. R. Harris in Expositor Nov. 352 They reduce to two classes. 1924 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. 704/2 His success or failure hangs..on the degree of intensity with which he fuses his material—and perhaps the old distinction between fancy and imagination reduces in the end to that. 1953 J. B. Carroll Study of Lang. iii. 78 The problem of describing verbal behaviour..reduces to the problem of describing the strengths..of verbal responses under various stimulus conditions. 1956 E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics iii. 109 The equations of motion for a material particle as given by the general theory reduce to the equations of motion of Newton, when we consider the simplest case of a Euclidean, limited, region of space. 1971 Ideal Home Apr. 69/1 The size of houses in sq. ft. has tended to reduce quite rapidly over the last few years. 1973 Daily Tel. 15 May 19 (Advt.), After only 8 years the amount you need to pay in cash will reduce and if present conditions continue you pay nothing after 10 years. 1978 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. Sept. 964/1 Over time those claims reduce to nothing more than rationalizations to maintain power. 1979 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 27 (Advt.), The Company invests 98% to 113% of each payment (depending on your starting age), except in the first two years when these figures reduce to 73% to 89%. |
d. trans. To articulate (a speech sound) in a way requiring less muscular effort; to form (a vowel) in a more neutral, centralized articulatory position; to weaken, obscure.
| 1874 A. J. Ellis Early Eng. Pronunc. iv. 1099/1 Reducing (ro) from a consonant to a pure glide. Ibid. 1315 So that (oo') often falls into the juncture (AA), or else (ee', oo') are reduced to two syllables. 1892 W. W. Skeat Primer Eng. Etymol. ii. 25 The day in Monday has been reduced to -dy (di) in familiar speech. 1909 D. Jones Pronunc. Eng. i. 46 Cases occur in which almost all other vowels may be reduced to ə when unstressed. 1934 C. Davies Eng. Pronunc. 12 Back-rounded vowels were unrounded and reduced to an indistinct sound similar to [ʌ] or [ə]. 1957 E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 II. x. 871 The unstressed back vowels seem not to have been reduced to [ə] as early as ME ĕ. 1962 A. C. Gimson Introd. Pronunc. Eng. vii. 143 In present RP the secondary accent has been lost and the former [e] or [ɛ:] reduced to [ə] or elided. |
e. intr. To lessen one's weight, to slim.
| 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 12/2 Perpendicular your outline, reduce a little. 1929 E. Linklater Poet's Pub xii. 145 ‘And how did they reduce?’ asked Jean... ‘They perspired without shame,’ said the professor. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 June 334/5 A commendably simple and, at the same time, reliable guide for those who wish to ‘reduce’ without too much trouble. 1963 R. Wolff I, Keturah (1964) ii. xvii. 230 Miss Hawthorne said abruptly ‘I think you ought to reduce, Keturah.’ So she bought a book on dieting. 1971 Homes & Gardens Sept. 65/3, I try continually to reduce, but you cannot take a couple out for a gay evening and be on a diet. |