Etymograph

English

reduction

Reduction comes from Middle English reduccion, from Old French reducion, from Latin reductiō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreductiō1as reductiō
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reducion1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reduccion1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1961reduction1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English reduction
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, The North-East London electrification of the Great Eastern L: “With the cutting out of the previous recovery times…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreductiōWiktionary, English reductionas reductiō
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reducionWiktionary, English reduction
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reduccionWiktionary, English reduction
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1961reductionWiktionary, English reduction. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, The North-East London electrification of the Great Eastern L: “With the cutting out of the previous recovery times…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with reduction, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull, to draw’

  • team ← tem ← *taum ← *taumaz ← *taugijaną
  • touch ← touchen ← tochier ← *toccāre
  • toy ← toye
  • tie ← teye ← tēag ← *taugu ← *taugō
  • introduce ← introducen ← introduire ← intrōdūcō ← *h₁énteros
  • tow ← towen ← togian ← *togōn ← *tugōną
  • tying ← tiȝing ← *tīgung ← *taugungō
  • tug ← tuggen ← togian ← *togōn ← *tugōną
  • duchess ← duchesse ← duchesse
  • tighten ← tyhtan ← *tuhtijan ← *tuhtiz
  • tuck ← tuken ← tūcian ← *teuh-
  • herzog ← herizogo ← *harjatogō ← *togō

472 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The act, process, or result of reducing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “reduction”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin reductiō / reduction