Wiktionary

attrition

English

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Etymology

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15th century, from Middle English attricion, attricioun, from Middle French attricion, attrition and its etymon, Latin attrītiō (“a rubbing against”), from the verb attrītus, past participle of atterō (“to wear”), from ad- (“to, towards”) +‎ terō (“to rub”).[1][2] By surface analysis, attrit +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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attrition (countable and uncountable, plural attritions)

  1. Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
    Antonym: accretion
    1. (dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.
  2. A gradual reduction in number.
    Antonym: accretion
    • 1990 December 16, Tom Sparks, “Universal Suffrage”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 4:
      Recent years have seen […] more and more blatant reversals of previous Supreme Court decisions in favor of the constitutional rights of minorities. These increasingly conservative decisions, and constant attrition of individuals' rights, have directly paralleled the alarming increase of convictions in our courts.
    • 2008 March 23, Peggy Orenstein, “Mixed Messenger”, in The New York Times‎[2], archived from the original on 6 November 2020:
      But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.
    1. (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through injury, incapacitation, retirement, resignation, or death.
      Synonym: natural wastage
    2. (sciences) The loss of participants during an experiment.
    3. (linguistics) The loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language.
  3. (theology) Imperfect contrition or remorse.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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attrition (third-person singular simple present attritions, present participle attritioning, simple past and past participle attritioned)

  1. (transitive) To grind or wear down through friction.
    Synonym: attrit
    attritioned teeth; attritioned rock
    • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel‎[3], New York: Arcade, Book 9, p. 189:
      […] He took her in his arms
      And kissed her long and wetly,
      Till, attritioned by her charms,
      His will collapsed completely.
  2. (transitive) To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).[3]
    • 1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education, Hearings, page 186:
      […] but the heart of the health services in New York will have to attrition out some 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.
    • 1989, Herbert S. White, “The Future of Library and Information Science Education”, in Librarians and the Awakening from Innocence,‎[4], Boston: G.K. Hall, page 86:
      […] expenses can be cut, by attritioning faculty vacancies […]
  3. (intransitive) To undergo a reduction in number.
    The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “attriciǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “attrition, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  3. ^ Clarence Barnhart et al., The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New English, Bronxville, NY: Barnhart Books.[1]

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From Latin attrītiōnem.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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attrition f (plural attritions)

  1. attrition

Derived terms

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Further reading

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