⬇️ Making smaller 🧩 Making simpler ⚗️ Gaining electrons

reduction

31 3.5

Making something simpler to understand

noun
/rɪˈdʌkʃən/

: simplificación

The company implemented a reduction in unnecessary procedures to simplify its operations.
risk reduction
stress reduction
anxiety reduction

Racism is the reduction of the cultural to the biological.

Examples

The truth is a reduction, a simplification.
Resulting in a rapid reduction of stress for our patient.

Session 9 (2001)
Simply, the agreement provided a basis for a potential reduction of tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

Academic text (1999)
Benefits of the case-only design include simplification of data analysis and reduction in model complexity.

Academic text (2012)
Primarily, meditation would have a role as a stress-reduction strategy, comparable to the more modern techniques of relaxation.

Academic text (1990)
According to the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, trust is a "mechanism for the reduction of social complexity."

Academic text (2012)
To improve customer satisfaction, they focused on a reduction of complex policies.
The teacher made a reduction in the number of topics covered to help students better understand the material.

Synonyms

simplification

vsreduction

13 3.6

Making something less complicated so it is easier to understand

is the simpler general term for the same process

decomposition

vsreduction

Specialized

1 7.4

Splitting a math object into simpler parts to study it

is a general process of making things less complex across many areas

demystification

vsreduction

1 5.6

Making a difficult idea easier to understand by explaining it clearly

aims to make things less complex rather than only explaining them

resolving

vsreduction

6.1

To break something into clear parts to make it easier to study

is about making things less complex overall rather than separating parts

Antonyms

complication

99 4.1

Something that makes a plan or situation harder to deal with

Compounds

price reduction

3 2.0

Making goods or services cheaper

reduction in force

Formal

1 5.2

A company cuts many jobs at the same time and lets workers go

reduction gear

Specialized

1 5.3

A group of gears that makes a fast shaft turn more slowly and gives more turning power to the output

oxidation-reduction

Specialized

1 4.7

A chemical reaction where one substance loses electrons and another gains electrons

temperature reduction

1 3.3

A drop in the temperature of something

reduction division

Specialized

6.1

A type of cell division that makes four sex cells, each with half the chromosomes

oxidation-reduction indicator

Specialized

7.2

A chemical that changes color when a solution gains or loses electrons

piano reduction

Specialized

7.5

A version of music for many instruments arranged for piano that keeps the main tune

How Simple

reduction

31 3.5

summary

3.3

abridgment

2 5.5

Surface Forms

reduction singular

reductions plural

Morphology

reduction = reduce (transparent) = reduce + ion

Formed by the verb 'reduce' plus the nominalizing suffix '-ion'; the sense 'making less complex' is a straightforward extension of 'reduce'.

Etymology

Reduction comes from Latin re- 'back' and ducere 'to lead', like the verb reduce, meaning to 'lead back' to something simpler. So a reduction in ideas or design means making a complex thing easier to understand.