"reductive" meaning in English

See reductive in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ɹɪˈdʌktɪv/ Forms: more reductive [comparative], most reductive [superlative]
Etymology: From Middle French réductif, from Late Latin reductivus, from the participle stem of Latin reducere (“to reduce”). Etymology templates: {{der|en|frm|réductif}} Middle French réductif, {{der|en|LL.|reductivus}} Late Latin reductivus, {{der|en|la|reducere|t=to reduce}} Latin reducere (“to reduce”) Head templates: {{en-adj}} reductive (comparative more reductive, superlative most reductive)
  1. (Scots law, now rare) Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory. Tags: archaic Categories (topical): Scots law
    Sense id: en-reductive-en-adj-42P~m8Xx
  2. Causing the physical reduction or diminution of something.
    Sense id: en-reductive-en-adj-VFflwHd0
  3. (chemistry, metallurgy, biology, economics) That reduces a substance etc. to a more simple or basic form. Categories (topical): Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Metallurgy
    Sense id: en-reductive-en-adj-QShNVqx9 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 13 17 42 13 15 Topics: biology, chemistry, economics, engineering, metallurgy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, science, sciences
  4. (now rare, historical) That can be derived from, or referred back to, something else. Tags: archaic, historical
    Sense id: en-reductive-en-adj-xCGckmng
  5. (now frequently derogatory) That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist.
    Sense id: en-reductive-en-adj-dwCUDufr
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: reductive animation, reductive dechlorination, reductive grammar, reductive group

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for reductive meaning in English (5.3kB)

{
  "antonyms": [
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      "word": "oxidative"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "reductive animation"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "reductive dechlorination"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "reductive grammar"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "reductive group"
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    {
      "args": {
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      "expansion": "Late Latin reductivus",
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        "3": "reducere",
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      "expansion": "Latin reducere (“to reduce”)",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle French réductif, from Late Latin reductivus, from the participle stem of Latin reducere (“to reduce”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more reductive",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most reductive",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "reductive (comparative more reductive, superlative most reductive)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Scots law",
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            "Names",
            "Proper nouns",
            "Terms by semantic function",
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      "glosses": [
        "Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory."
      ],
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        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "Scots law",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Scots law, now rare) Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Causing the physical reduction or diminution of something."
      ],
      "id": "en-reductive-en-adj-VFflwHd0",
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        [
          "reduction",
          "reduction"
        ],
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Economics",
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          "parents": [
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          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
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        {
          "_dis": "13 17 42 13 15",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1848, F Knapp, Chemical Technology; Or, Chemistry Applied to the Arts and to Manufactures",
          "text": "On the relative reductive powers of different classes of American coals, as demonstrated by the experiments with oxide of lead.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 March 25, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 2017-01-04, page 83",
          "text": "It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That reduces a substance etc. to a more simple or basic form."
      ],
      "id": "en-reductive-en-adj-QShNVqx9",
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        "(chemistry, metallurgy, biology, economics) That reduces a substance etc. to a more simple or basic form."
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      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1847, John Johnson, The theological works of the rev. John Johnson",
          "text": "But then beside the primary and direct sense of the text, the ancients commonly supposed that there was a reductive or anagogical meaning, in which it might be taken.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That can be derived from, or referred back to, something else."
      ],
      "id": "en-reductive-en-adj-xCGckmng",
      "links": [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now rare, historical) That can be derived from, or referred back to, something else."
      ],
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        "historical"
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    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist."
      ],
      "id": "en-reductive-en-adj-dwCUDufr",
      "links": [
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          "reductionist"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "now frequently derogatory",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now frequently derogatory) That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɹɪˈdʌktɪv/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "reductive"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "oxidative"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
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    "English terms derived from Late Latin",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Middle French",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "reductive animation"
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    {
      "word": "reductive dechlorination"
    },
    {
      "word": "reductive grammar"
    },
    {
      "word": "reductive group"
    }
  ],
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle French réductif, from Late Latin reductivus, from the participle stem of Latin reducere (“to reduce”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more reductive",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most reductive",
      "tags": [
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        "Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory."
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        "(Scots law, now rare) Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory."
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        "Causing the physical reduction or diminution of something."
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          "ref": "1848, F Knapp, Chemical Technology; Or, Chemistry Applied to the Arts and to Manufactures",
          "text": "On the relative reductive powers of different classes of American coals, as demonstrated by the experiments with oxide of lead.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 March 25, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 2017-01-04, page 83",
          "text": "It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That reduces a substance etc. to a more simple or basic form."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chemistry, metallurgy, biology, economics) That reduces a substance etc. to a more simple or basic form."
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          "ref": "1847, John Johnson, The theological works of the rev. John Johnson",
          "text": "But then beside the primary and direct sense of the text, the ancients commonly supposed that there was a reductive or anagogical meaning, in which it might be taken.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That can be derived from, or referred back to, something else."
      ],
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        "(now rare, historical) That can be derived from, or referred back to, something else."
      ],
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        "archaic",
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    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms"
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      "glosses": [
        "That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
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          "simplistic",
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      ],
      "qualifier": "now frequently derogatory",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now frequently derogatory) That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɹɪˈdʌktɪv/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "reductive"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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