attrition

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)

1. Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
2. The gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource due to causes that are passive and do not involve productive use of the resource.
3. (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death.
4. (sciences) The loss of participants during an experiment.
5. (theology) Imperfect contrition or remorse.
6. (dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.
7. (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

Bulgarian: изтъркване (bg) (iztǎrkvane), изтриване (bg) (iztrivane) Chinese: Mandarin: 磨損／磨损 (zh) (mósǔn) Dutch: slijtage (nl), sleet (nl) m Esperanto: forfrotiĝo Finnish: kuluminen (fi), hiertyminen French: usure (fr) f German: Verschleiß (de) m, Abnutzung (de) f, Abrieb (de) m, Zermürbung f, Abreibung (de) f, Abschürfung (de) f Greek: τριβή (el) f (triví) Hebrew: שחיקה‎ (he) (shkhika) Hungarian: kopás (hu), felőrlődés, felmorzsolódás Japanese: 磨耗 (ja) (mamō) Latin: attritio f Macedonian: три́ење n (tríenje) Occitan: abrasion f, atricion f Portuguese: atrito (pt) m Russian: истира́ние (ru) n (istiránije), стира́ние (ru) n (stiránije), тре́ние (ru) n (trénije) Serbo-Croatian: istiranje n, habanje n Spanish: abrasión (es) f Swedish: nötning (sv) c, förslitning (sv) c

gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource

Dutch: vervliegen (nl) Esperanto: malkreskado Finnish: rapautuminen (fi) (intangible); hävikki (fi) (tangible) German: Schwund (de) m, Verlust (de) m Occitan: atricion f, ameniment m, amermament m Serbo-Croatian: osipanje (sh) n, rasap (sh) m Swedish: utmattning (sv)

reduction in membership or personnel

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Crimean Tatar: please add this translation if you can Dutch: vrijwillig ontslag, natuurlijke afvloeiing f Esperanto: malkreskado Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: poistuma French: départs volontaires m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Abgang (de) m, Arbeitskräfteabgang m, natürlicher Abgang m Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: 消耗 (ja) (shōmō) Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Occitan: defeccion f, reduccion (oc) f, atricion f Polish: no equivalent term in Polish, but see zmniejszenie (pl) n Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: у́быль персона́ла (úbylʹ personála) Serbo-Croatian: osipanje (sh) n Slovak: please add this translation if you can Swedish: avfall (sv) n, bortfall (sv) n Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

loss of participants during an experiment

Dutch: verloop (nl) n Finnish: kato (fi), attritio German: Schwund (de) m Occitan: defeccion f, atricion f Serbo-Croatian: osipanje (sh) Spanish: deserción (es) f Swedish: bortfall (sv) n

theology: imperfect contrition or remorse

Finnish: attritio German: unvollkommene Reue f Irish: doilíos m Occitan: atricion f Serbo-Croatian: atricija f Spanish: atrición (es) f

wearing of teeth

Esperanto: forfrotiĝo Finnish: attritio German: Abnutzung (de) f, Abrieb (de) m Greek: φθορά (el) f (fthorá) Hebrew: שחיקת שיניים‎ (shkhikat shina'im) Inuktitut: ᐊᓐᓂᕈᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖅ (anniroqpallianiq) Occitan: abrasion f, atricion f Serbo-Croatian: trošenje n, abrazija f, atricija f Spanish: desgaste dental m Swedish: nötning (sv) c

loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language

Esperanto: perdo Finnish: attritio; taantuminen (fi) (partial); menettäminen (fi) (total) German: Verlust (de) m, Sprachverlust (de) m Occitan: atricion f Swedish: förlust (sv) c

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

Dutch: (please verify) afvloeiingspolitiek French: (please verify) départs volontaires m

Verb

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, 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).[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 […]

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

to grind or wear down through friction

Finnish: kuluttaa (fi)

to reduce jobs or workers by not hiring

Finnish: vähentää luonnollisen poistuman kautta

to undergo a reduction in number

Finnish: vähentyä (fi), karsiutua (fi)

References

1. Clarence Barnhart et al., The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New English, Bronxville, NY: Barnhart Books.

Anagrams

• titration

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French

Etymology

From Latin attrītiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.tʁi.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

attrition f (plural attritions)

1. attrition

Derived terms

• guerre d'attrition

Further reading

• “attrition”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.