Meaning of Attenuate in English

Meaning of Attenuate in English

The first thing, before entering fully into the meaning of the term attenuate, is to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can emphasize that it is a word derived from Latin. Exactly comes from “attenuare”, which can be translated as “to put thin.”

It is a word that is the result of three elements of that language:
-The prefix “ad”, which can be translated as “towards”.
-The adjective “tenuis”, which means “thin”.
-The suffix “-ar”, which is an ending used to shape verbs.

Attenuate is a verb that refers to making something become more tenuous (weak, light, subtle).

In addition to all the above, we can underline that there are several antonyms that the word attenuate has. Specifically, we are referring to aggravate, increase, strengthen and even strengthen.

For example: “The president is concerned because he does not know how to mitigate the impact of the adjustment measures”, “The engineer presented a project to mitigate the effects of the rising river”, “If the player is not willing to to lessen their demands, we will not advance with the negotiations ”.

In the first example, mitigate is associated with mitigating or cushioning the consequences of a policy implemented by a government. The president may feel uneasy about the effect of his measures on the population and will want to reduce the negative impact.

The second example also associates the concept to minimizing the results or consequences of something (in this case, the eventual growth of a riverbed). Finally, the third example shows that attenuate can be associated with the idea of tempering, since both verbs refer to the moderation of a position.

An international singer may demand, to perform in a certain city, a payment of one million dollars for the concert, a room in a five-star hotel and first-class tickets for himself and his entire team. The businessman who wishes to hire him, in this situation, suggests to the artist that he study reducing his orders since they are very expensive. If the singer prefers to remain firm, the show probably cannot be carried out since the businessman is not willing to invest so much money.

At the level of beauty and aesthetics, the verb attenuate is used in the same way. Specifically, it is used to refer to the action that aims to minimize or reduce as much as possible traces on the skin and which are considered to be not exactly favorable. Thus, for example, we come across the existence of beauty products that clearly aim to reduce wrinkles. In this way, the appearance of a person will remain young.

In addition, there are homemade tricks or beauty secrets that also help to achieve that end. We are referring both to applying lemon juice to wrinkles and to performing facial exercises. Not to mention that aloe vera is also considered very appropriate.

Attenuate