reductionary
|re-duc-tion-ar-y|
🇺🇸
/rɪˈdʌkʃənəri/
🇬🇧
/rɪˈdʌkʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/
relating to making smaller
Etymology
'reductionary' originates from Latin, specifically from the root 'reducere' (via Medieval Latin 'reductio' and Late Latin formations), where 're-' meant 'back' and 'ducere' meant 'to lead'. The modern adjective is formed by the noun 'reduction' + the adjectival suffix '-ary'.
'reductionary' developed in Modern English from the noun 'reduction' (Middle English/Old French 'reduction' from Latin 'reductio'), with the suffix '-ary' attached to create an adjective meaning 'relating to reduction'.
Initially the Latin root 'reducere' had the sense 'to lead back'; over time this evolved into meanings related to making smaller or bringing back (i.e., 'to reduce'), and later into an adjectival sense 'relating to reduction' as in 'reductionary'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
relating to, causing, or characterized by reduction; tending to make something smaller or fewer (e.g., reductionary measures).
The committee proposed several reductionary measures to lower operating costs.
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Adjective 2
favoring or based on reduction as an explanatory strategy (often used in philosophy or science to describe accounts that explain complex phenomena in terms of simpler constituents).
Her reductionary account of cognition attempts to explain mental states entirely in terms of neural processes.
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Last updated: 2025/11/19 03:34