attenuation

American  

[uh-ten-yoo-ey-shuhn] / əˌtɛn yuˈeɪ ʃən /

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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attenuation British  

/ əˌtɛnjʊˈeɪʃən /

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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Other Word Forms

• subattenuation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of attenuation

1585–95; (< Middle French ) < Latin attenuātiōn- (stem of attenuātiō ). See attenuate, -ion

Explanation

Attenuation means a weakening or reduction. If you have a really intense crush on someone, but closer contact reveals that she smells funny in a bad way, you'll probably experience an attenuation of your romantic sensation. The noun attenuation comes from the Latin verb meaning "make thin," but it's not just the bodies of hopeful models and ballerinas that undergo attenuation. Any instance of something becoming weaker or smaller could be an attenuation, like the attenuation of a radio signal as you drive out of town, the attenuation of your attention during a boring lecture, or the attenuation of your bank balance after a sudden, impulsive trip to Hawaii.

Example Sentences

During the spring, he said Amazon hadn’t yet “seen any attenuation of demand,” and he touted Amazon’s vast network of merchants who he said could sell different items at a wide variety of prices.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026

Even sisters who share a close bond have usually passed through periods of attenuation.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2024

The Williams Flats plume was so thick that the light attenuation was only 10 percent of what it was outside of the plume.

From Slate • Nov. 4, 2023

This layer appears to glide over a weaker region below called the asthenosphere, characterized by high seismic attenuation and low shear wave velocity.

From Science Daily • Sep. 27, 2023

The graceful figures of the girls, the attenuated figure of papa, in whose hopeless expression one sees the dread of further attenuation, together with his own perfect presentment, would make—indeed, does make—an admirable picture.

From John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 by Frith, William Powell