attrition
English
Etymology
15th century, learned borrowing from Latin attritio (“a rubbing against”), from the verb attritus, past participle of atterere (“to wear”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + terere (“to rub”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əˈtɹɪʃən/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪʃən
Noun
attrition (countable and uncountable, plural attritions)
- Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
- The gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource due to causes that are passive and do not involve productive use of the resource.
- (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death.
- (sciences) The loss of participants during an experiment.
- (theology) Imperfect contrition or remorse.
- (dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.
- (linguistics) The loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language.
Synonyms
- (employment reduction by natural causes): natural wastage
Antonyms
- accretion
Derived terms
Derived terms
- attrit
- attritional
- attritionary
- attrition damage
- attrition warfare
- attritive
- war of attrition
Related terms
- contrition
Translations
wearing by friction
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gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource
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reduction in membership or personnel
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loss of participants during an experiment
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theology: imperfect contrition or remorse
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wearing of teeth
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loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language
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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
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Verb
attrition (third-person singular simple present attritions, present participle attritioning, simple past and past participle attritioned)
- (transitive) To grind or wear down through friction.
- Synonym: attrit
- attritioned teeth; attritioned rock
- 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, 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.
- (transitive) To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).[1]
- 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, Boston: G.K. Hall, p. 86,
- […] expenses can be cut, by attritioning faculty vacancies […]
- 1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education, Hearings (page 186)
- (intransitive) To undergo a reduction in number.
- The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school.
Translations
to grind or wear down through friction
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to reduce jobs or workers by not hiring
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to undergo a reduction in number
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References
- Clarence Barnhart et al., The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New English, Bronxville, NY: Barnhart Books.
Anagrams
- titration
French
Etymology
From Latin attrītiō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.tʁi.sjɔ̃/
Audio (file)
Noun
attrition f (plural attritions)
- attrition
Derived terms
- guerre d'attrition
Further reading
- “attrition”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.