decrement noun. ['dɛkrɪm(ǝ)nt] L16.
[Latin decrementum, from decre- stem of decrescere DECREASE verb: see -MENT.]
1. At Oxford University, an amount deducted from a scholar's endowment for college expenses. Long obsolete exc. Hist. L16.

2. The process or fact of growing (gradually) less; an instance of this; decrease, diminution, loss, waste. E17.
b. Chiefly Heraldry. The waning of the moon. E17.

3. A quantity lost by diminution or waste: a negative increment. M17.
b. In full decrement of life. The annual decrease in a given set of people by death. M18.
c. Physics. The ratio (often expressed logarithmically, freq. logarithmic decrement) of the amplitudes in successive cycles of a damped oscillation. L19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲