disquantityv.
/dɪsˈkwɒntɪti/ 1. transitive. To lessen in quantity; to diminish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce in quantity or number
thinc1440
depopulate1545
shorten1604
disquantity1608
waste1617
dequantitate1646
paucify1648
castrate1728
shrink1832
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 243 Be thou desired by her..a little to disquantitie your traine. View more context for this quotation
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (iii. 9) 1278 [God] disquantitied his [sc. Gideon's] forces, from thirty two thousand to three hundred.
2. To deprive of metrical quantity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > incorrectness of language > abuse language [verb (transitive)] > in speech > by eliding syllables
to eat up1584
disquantity1866
1866 J. R. Lowell Swinburne in Prose Wks. (1890) II. 130 The Earl of Orford..used to have Statius read aloud to him every night for two hours by a tipsy tradesman..and found some strange mystery of sweetness in the disquantitied syllables.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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