'debt-diminishing' originates from the combination of 'debt' and 'diminish,' where 'debt' refers to an obligation to pay money and 'diminish' means to make or become less.

'debt' comes from the Old French word 'dette,' which evolved from the Latin 'debitum,' meaning 'something owed.' 'Diminish' comes from the Latin 'deminuere,' meaning 'to make smaller.'

Initially, 'diminish' meant 'to make smaller,' and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.