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attenuation

[uh-ten-yoo-ey-shuh n]
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noun
  1. the act of attenuating or the state of being attenuated.
  2. the process by which a virus, bacterium, etc., changes under laboratory conditions to become harmless or less virulent.
  3. Physics. a decrease in a property, as energy, per unit area of a wave or a beam of particles, occurring as the distance from the source increases as a result of absorption, scattering, spreading in three dimensions, etc.
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Origin of attenuation

1585–95; (< Middle French) < Latin attenuātiōn- (stem of attenuātiō). See attenuate, -ion
Related formssub·at·ten·u·a·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

enfeeblementweaknessdepletionimpoverishmentfadingexhaustion

Examples from the Web for attenuation

Historical Examples

  • The rapidity of the action diminished with the attenuation of the vapour.

    Fragments of science, V. 1-2

    John Tyndall

  • In spite of the pallor and attenuation, the face had a rare charm.

    A Little Girl of Long Ago

    Amanda Millie Douglas

  • There is no growth in the idea of god, there is only an attenuation.

    Theism or Atheism

    Chapman Cohen

  • It is to be given at the first attenuation three times daily in half gr.

  • She quite lacks the refinement, attenuation and imponderability you have achieved.

British Dictionary definitions for attenuation

attenuation

noun
  1. the act of attenuating or the state of being attenuated
  2. the loss of energy suffered by radiation as it passes through matter, esp as a result of absorption or scattering
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attenuation

n.

early 15c., of persons, "emaciation;" of diet, "reduction," from Latin attenuationem (nominative attenuatio) "a lessening," noun of action from past participle stem of attenuare (see attenuate).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
attenuation in Medicine

attenuation

(ə-tĕn′yōō-ā′shən)
n.
  1. A dilution, thinning, or weakening of a substance, especially a reduction in the virulence of a pathogen through repeated inoculation, growth in a different culture medium, or exposure to heat, light, air, or other weakening agents.
  2. The energy loss of an ultrasonic beam as it passes through a material.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.