Defn: To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune. Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment. Calamy. St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it. Atterbury.
Syn. — To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken; degrade.
LESSEN
Less"en, v. i.
Defn: To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened. The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was one witness of no good reputation. Atterbury.
LESSENER
Less"en*er, n.
Defn: One who, or that which, lessens. His wife . . . is the lessener of his pain, and the augmenter of his pleasure. J. Rogers (1839).
LESSER Less"er, a. Etym: [This word is formed by adding anew the compar. suffix -er (in which r is from an original s) to less. See Less, a.]
Defn: Less; smaller; inferior.
God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night. Gen. i. 15.
Note: Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in certain special instances in which its employment has become established by custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e., Asia Minor), the lesser light, and some others; also in poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose where its use renders the passage more euphonious. The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. Shak. The larger here, and there the lesser lambs. Pope. By the same reason may a man, in the state of nature, punish the lesser breaches of the law. Locke.
LESSER
Less"er, adv.