Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'reduce' holds a significant place in our daily lives, urging us to minimize waste, conserve resources, and promote sustainability. Its cultural importance is undeniable, as societies around the world strive to create a greener and more eco-friendly existence. Understanding the translation of 'reduce' in different languages can open doors to global connections and foster a sense of unity in the pursuit of environmental responsibility.
Did you know that the Latin translation of 'reduce' is 'reducere,' which means 'to lead back'? Or that in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, 'reduce' translates to 'hanam,' emphasizing the act of giving up or letting go? These fascinating translations highlight the word's historical context and its relevance across various cultures.
Whether you're a language enthusiast, a cultural explorer, or an environmental advocate, delving into the translations of 'reduce' can be an enlightening journey. Discover how this simple word transcends language barriers and brings us closer together in our shared mission to protect our planet.
Afrikaans | verminder | ||
"Verminder" is derived from the Dutch word "verminderen" and also carries the secondary meaning of "lessen". | |||
Amharic | መቀነስ | ||
The word "መቀነስ" can also mean "to be humbled" or "to be humiliated". | |||
Hausa | rage | ||
In Hausa, the word 'rage' can also mean 'to peel' or 'to cut into strips'. | |||
Igbo | belata | ||
"Belata" also means "make something to fall" in Igbo, as in making an object fall off a table or shelf. | |||
Malagasy | hampihena | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuchepetsa | ||
Ku-chepetsa means 'to remove something' or 'to take something away' in Nyanja (Chichewa). | |||
Shona | kuderedza | ||
The word "kuderedza" derives from the Proto-Bantu verb "*dɛlɛza", meaning "to cut off" or "to take away from". | |||
Somali | yaree | ||
The verb 'yaree' is derived from the Proto-Somali word '*yareh' meaning 'to make smaller' and is cognate with the Oromo word 'yaari' meaning 'to decrease'. | |||
Sesotho | fokotsa | ||
The word "fokotsa" can also mean "to make smaller" or "to decrease" in Sesotho. | |||
Swahili | punguza | ||
The word 'punguza' (reduce) may also refer to making something narrower or thinner. | |||
Xhosa | ukunciphisa | ||
The Xhosa word 'ukunciphisa' originates from the word 'inciphiso', which means 'smallness' or 'narrowness' | |||
Yoruba | dinku | ||
The word "dinku" also means "to cut off" or "to subtract" in Yoruba. | |||
Zulu | ukunciphisa | ||
The term "ukunciphisa" is derived from the verb "ciphisa" meaning "to become less" or "diminish". It is also used in the context of "to reduce" or "to shorten". | |||
Bambara | ka dɔgɔya | ||
Ewe | ɖe edzi | ||
Kinyarwanda | gabanya | ||
Lingala | kokitisa | ||
Luganda | okukendeeza | ||
Sepedi | fokotša | ||
Twi (Akan) | te so | ||
Arabic | خفض | ||
The Arabic word "خفض" (reduce) is derived from the root "خ ف ض" (to lower, to humble), and can also mean "to lower in rank or status". | |||
Hebrew | לְהַפחִית | ||
The root of the word "לְהַפחִית" is "פחה", which also means "governor" or "district" in Arabic. | |||
Pashto | کمول | ||
The word "کمول" can also mean "subtract" or "deduct". | |||
Arabic | خفض | ||
The Arabic word "خفض" (reduce) is derived from the root "خ ف ض" (to lower, to humble), and can also mean "to lower in rank or status". |
Albanian | reduktuar | ||
The Albanian word "reduktuar" is derived from the Latin word "reducere," meaning "to lead back" or "to bring back." | |||
Basque | murriztu | ||
The verb 'murriz' can also be translated as 'to diminish' or 'to narrow'. | |||
Catalan | reduir | ||
The Catalan verb "reduir" is derived from the Latin word "reducere," meaning "to bring back" or "to lead back." | |||
Croatian | smanjiti | ||
The Croatian word 'smanjiti' ('reduce') originates from the Proto-Slavic word 'sъmъnjiti', meaning 'to become small'. | |||
Danish | reducere | ||
The Danish word "reducere" originates from the Latin word "reducere", meaning "to lead back" or "to restore". | |||
Dutch | verminderen | ||
Dutch "verminderen" can also mean to poison someone (especially with food), and can be traced all the way back from Latin "venenum" (poison). | |||
English | reduce | ||
The verb 'reduce' originates from the Latin word 'reducere', meaning 'to bring back', and can also be used figuratively to refer to simplifiying or limiting something. | |||
French | réduire | ||
In French, "réduire" can also mean "to narrow down" or "to boil down". | |||
Frisian | ferminderje | ||
The word "ferminderje" in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word "fermindera", meaning "to make smaller". | |||
Galician | diminuír | ||
The Galician word "diminuír" derives from "diminuere," the Latin verb meaning "to lessen," "to weaken," or "to make smaller." | |||
German | reduzieren | ||
"Reduzieren" comes from the Latin term "reducere", which means "to lead back" or "to restore". | |||
Icelandic | draga úr | ||
In Icelandic, "draga úr" literally means "to drag out". | |||
Irish | laghdú | ||
In Irish, "laghdú" primarily means "reduce" but can also imply "shorten" and carries connotations of making something "less" or "diminishing". | |||
Italian | ridurre | ||
"Ridurre" is related to the English term "riddle", originating from the Latin verb "radere" (to scrape, shave, erase). | |||
Luxembourgish | reduzéieren | ||
'Reduzeieren' is derived from the Latin word 'reducere', which means 'to lead back', and originally referred to the action of returning something to its original state. | |||
Maltese | naqqas | ||
The word 'naqqas' in Maltese derives from the Arabic word 'naqṣa', meaning 'deficiency' or 'loss'. | |||
Norwegian | redusere | ||
Reduce, meaning to 'bring to a former or original condition' comes from Latin 're' and 'ducere,' meaning 'back' and 'lead,' respectively | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | reduzir | ||
The Portuguese word "reduzir" derives from the Latin "reducere," meaning to bring back or restore. | |||
Scots Gaelic | lughdachadh | ||
"Lughdachadh" is derived from "lughd" ("few") and "dà" ("two"), thus meaning "to make few or two". | |||
Spanish | reducir | ||
The Spanish word "reducir" comes from the Latin word "reducere," meaning "to bring back" or "to return." | |||
Swedish | minska | ||
The word 'minska' is derived from the Old Swedish word 'minsk' meaning 'less' or 'smaller'. | |||
Welsh | lleihau | ||
The word 'lleihau' is a Welsh verb that has additional meanings in other Celtic languages, such as meaning 'melt' in Irish. |
Belarusian | паменшыць | ||
The Belarusian word "паменшыць" originally meant "to bring something under control," and is still used in that sense in certain contexts. | |||
Bosnian | smanjiti | ||
The word “smanjiti” also has the meaning “to be quiet.” | |||
Bulgarian | намаляване | ||
The Bulgarian word "намаляване" can also refer to "discounts" or "sales". | |||
Czech | snížit | ||
The verb "snížit" is derived from the noun "snítka", meaning a branch, and thus originally meant "to prune" or "to cut off a branch". | |||
Estonian | vähendada | ||
The word "vähendada" can also mean "to make something less important or significant". | |||
Finnish | vähentää | ||
The word "vähentää" comes from the Proto-Finnic root "*wähen- " (to become smaller). | |||
Hungarian | csökkenteni | ||
The word 'csökkenteni' in Hungarian is cognate with the Finnish word 'kehittää' (to develop) and the Estonian word 'kehitama' (to devise). | |||
Latvian | samazināt | ||
Sama- (same) + zina- (knowledge) + t (action); thus "to make less, to diminish" | |||
Lithuanian | sumažinti | ||
The word "sumažinti" is derived from the Proto-Baltic root "*mazg-/", meaning "to wash" or "to clean". | |||
Macedonian | намали | ||
The verb "намали" can also mean "to discount" or "to lower". | |||
Polish | zmniejszyć | ||
"Zmienić" and "zmniejszyć" are both derived from the same Proto-Slavic word "měniti", but "zmenšiť" took on the meaning of "make smaller" or "reduce" specifically through Polish, whereas "změnit" retained the broader meaning of "to change" in other Slavic languages. | |||
Romanian | reduce | ||
In Romanian, "reduce" can also mean to "lower" or "bring down". | |||
Russian | уменьшить | ||
The Russian word "уменьшить" comes from the Old Russian word "мень" (less), meaning "to make smaller or less". | |||
Serbian | смањити | ||
"Смањивати" means both "reduce" (e.g. size or price) and "diminish in quantity or size". | |||
Slovak | zmenšiť | ||
The Slovak word "zmenšiť" also refers to a "small change" or the act of "decreasing something slightly." | |||
Slovenian | zmanjšati | ||
The verb "zmanjšati" is derived from the Proto-Slavic verb "*menъšiti", meaning "to make smaller or less". It shares a common origin with the Russian word "уменьшить" and the Bulgarian word "намалявам". | |||
Ukrainian | зменшити | ||
"Зменшити" is a Slavic root derived from an Old Slavic verb "měną", which may have meant “change" in Proto-Indo-European. |
Bengali | হ্রাস | ||
The word "হ্রাস" originally denoted a loss in value or size, but now it also implies a decrease in intensity or degree. | |||
Gujarati | ઘટાડો | ||
The word 'ઘટાડો' in Gujarati is derived from the Sanskrit word 'ghatana', meaning 'deduction' or 'abatement'. | |||
Hindi | कम करना | ||
In Hindi, "कम करना" not only refers to "reducing" something, but can also mean "earning" or "gaining" it. | |||
Kannada | ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿ | ||
The word 'ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿ' is also used to refer to a decrease in size, quantity, or degree. | |||
Malayalam | കുറയ്ക്കുക | ||
The word "കുറയ്ക്കുക" can also mean "to make better", "to correct", "to improve", or "to diminish" in Malayalam. | |||
Marathi | कमी करा | ||
The Marathi verb 'कमी करा' is derived from the Hindi verb 'कम करना', which can also mean 'debase' or 'diminish'. | |||
Nepali | कम गर्नु | ||
The word 'कम गर्नु' in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word 'karma', which means 'action' or 'deed'. | |||
Punjabi | ਘਟਾਓ | ||
The Punjabi word "ਘਟਾਓ" is derived from the Sanskrit word "घट" (ghata), meaning a vessel or a container. | |||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අඩු කරන්න | ||
Tamil | குறைக்க | ||
While the Tamil word "குறைக்க" commonly means "reduce," it also denotes "to diminish," "to lower," and "to lessen." | |||
Telugu | తగ్గించండి | ||
తగ్గించండి comes from the verb తగ్గు (taggoo), meaning "to diminish, to decline, to lessen," and is also used in the context of "to subtract" in mathematics. | |||
Urdu | کم | ||
The Urdu word 'کم' (reduce) originates from the Sanskrit and Prakrit word 'kṛpaṇa', meaning 'miserly' or 'stingy'. |
Chinese (Simplified) | 降低 | ||
降低 can also mean "to lower" or "to demote". | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 降低 | ||
The word 降低 is formed by the characters 低 (low) and 降 (to descend), implying a gradual decrease in intensity or quantity. | |||
Japanese | 減らす | ||
The kanji 減 (gen) is also used in words like 'deduction' (減額; gen-gaku) and 'discount' (割引; waribiki). | |||
Korean | 줄이다 | ||
"줄이다" originally meant "to shorten," which later extended to "to subtract" and "to reduce." | |||
Mongolian | багасгах | ||
The word 'багасгах' can also refer to 'shortening' or 'dipping' something. | |||
Myanmar (Burmese) | လျှော့ချ | ||
Indonesian | mengurangi | ||
Mengurangi derives from the root 'kurang' meaning 'lacking', and can also mean 'shorten' or 'diminish'. | |||
Javanese | nyuda | ||
"Nyuda", in Javanese, not only means 'to reduce' or 'to minimize', but it also refers to the process of decreasing or lowering something." | |||
Khmer | កាត់បន្ថយ | ||
Lao | ຫຼຸດຜ່ອນ | ||
Malay | kurangkan | ||
"Kurangkan" also means "to lessen" or "to decrease" in Malay. | |||
Thai | ลด | ||
"ลด" also means "to deduct", "to take off", or "to discount". | |||
Vietnamese | giảm | ||
The word "giảm" means "reduce" in Vietnamese, but it also has the alternate meaning of "to lower". | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | bawasan | ||
Azerbaijani | azaltmaq | ||
It is thought that the word "azaltmaq" may have originated from the Persian word "âzâr", which means "damage" or "harm". | |||
Kazakh | азайту | ||
The word "азайту" can also mean "to diminish" or "to make smaller". | |||
Kyrgyz | азайтуу | ||
The word "азайтуу" can also mean to "diminish," "lessen," or "decrease." | |||
Tajik | кам кардан | ||
"Кам кардан" originates from the Persian "кам کردن" meaning "to make less" or "to diminish". | |||
Turkmen | azaltmak | ||
Uzbek | kamaytirish | ||
The Uzbek word "kamaytirish" has a Persian origin, and it means to "make less" or "diminish." | |||
Uyghur | ئازايتىش | ||
Hawaiian | hoʻēmi | ||
The word 'hoʻēmi' can also mean 'to lower', 'to diminish', or 'to decrease'. | |||
Maori | whakaitihia | ||
Samoan | faʻaititia | ||
Faʻaititia is the Samoan word for reducing something in size. | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | bawasan | ||
The word "bawasan" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root word *ba:sen, which also means "to divide" or "to separate". |
Aymara | juk'aptayaña | ||
Guarani | momichĩ | ||
Esperanto | redukti | ||
The Esperanto word "redukti" is derived from the Latin "reducere" (to lead back) and has the alternate meaning of "to restore". | |||
Latin | reducere | ||
Reducere is also the root of the word "restore," as it originally meant "to bring back." |
Greek | περιορίζω | ||
The verb περιορίζω is derived from the noun περίοδος, which originally meant 'cycle' or 'circuit' and later came to mean 'limit' or 'boundary'. | |||
Hmong | txo | ||
The word "txo" can also mean "to subtract" or "to take away". | |||
Kurdish | kêmkirin | ||
The word "kêmkirin" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European *ker-, meaning "to cut". | |||
Turkish | azaltmak | ||
"Azaltmak" (reduce) derives from the Arabic word "zala" (disappear), implying a state of nothingness after subtraction. | |||
Xhosa | ukunciphisa | ||
The Xhosa word 'ukunciphisa' originates from the word 'inciphiso', which means 'smallness' or 'narrowness' | |||
Yiddish | רעדוצירן | ||
(Yiddish word for "reduce") "rēductzirn" is originally from German "reduzieren," from Late Latin "reduco, reducere, reduxi, reductum" (meaning "to bring back," from "re-" (meaning "back") + "ducere" (meaning "to lead")) | |||
Zulu | ukunciphisa | ||
The term "ukunciphisa" is derived from the verb "ciphisa" meaning "to become less" or "diminish". It is also used in the context of "to reduce" or "to shorten". | |||
Assamese | হ্ৰাস কৰা | ||
Aymara | juk'aptayaña | ||
Bhojpuri | घटायीं | ||
Dhivehi | މަދުކުރުން | ||
Dogri | घट्ट करो | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | bawasan | ||
Guarani | momichĩ | ||
Ilocano | kissayan | ||
Krio | ridyus | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | کەمکردنەوە | ||
Maithili | कम करु | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯍꯟꯊꯕ | ||
Mizo | titlem | ||
Oromo | hir'isuu | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ହ୍ରାସ କର | | ||
Quechua | pisiyachiy | ||
Sanskrit | लघू करोतु | ||
Tatar | киметү | ||
Tigrinya | ቀንስ | ||
Tsonga | hunguta | ||