See Also: decrement(medicine)
decrement(dictionary)

decrement (iou)



decrement noun. L16.
[Latin decrementum, from decre- stem of decrescere DECREASE verb: see -MENT.]
At Oxford University, an amount deducted from a scholar's endowment for college expenses. Long obsolete exc. Hist. L16.
The process or fact of growing (gradually) less; an instance of this; decrease, diminution, loss, waste. E17.
b. Chiefly Heraldry. The waning of the moon. E17.
A quantity lost by diminution or waste: a negative increment. M17.
b. In full decrement of life. The annual decrease in a given set of people by death. M18.
c. Physics. The ratio (often expressed logarithmically, freq. logarithmic decrement) of the amplitudes in successive cycles of a damped oscillation. L19.