


v. at·ten·u·at·ed, at·ten·u·at·ing, at·ten·u·ates
1. To make slender, fine, or small: The drought attenuated the river to a narrow channel.
2. To reduce in force, value, amount, or degree; weaken: Medicine attenuated the fever's effect.
3. To lessen the density of; rarefy.
4. Biology To make (bacteria or viruses) less virulent.
5. Electronics To reduce (the amplitude of an electrical signal) with little or no distortion.
To become thin, weak, or fine.
adj. (-yo͞o-ĭt)
1. Reduced or weakened, as in strength, value, or virulence.
2. Botany Gradually tapering to a slender point.

[Latin attenuāre, attenuāt- : ad-, ad- + tenuāre, to make thin (from tenuis, thin; see ten- in Indo-European roots).]

at·ten′u·a′tion n.


[əˈtenjʊeɪtɪŋ] ADJatenuante
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