Literary notes about diminished (AI summary)
The term "diminished" in literature is employed to indicate a decrease in intensity, size, or quality, both in tangible and abstract contexts. It can describe a physical reduction, such as landscapes receding into the distance ([1]) or sensory capabilities waning ([2], [3]), while also conveying the gradual fading of emotional or moral characteristics, as seen in the gradual loss of personal strength or influence ([4], [5], [6]). The word further extends its range into technical and abstract realms, where it is used to denote proportional reduction in logical or mathematical constructs ([7], [8]). Throughout various literary works, "diminished" functions as a versatile term to illustrate decline—whether in the physical world, in human sentiment, or in societal and intellectual capacities ([9], [10], [11]).
- The heights, diminished by distance, did not present an appearance likely to tempt vessels to touch there.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - Sensibility of all kinds seems diminished as well as motility, but of this I shall speak later on.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - His tactile sensibility was permanently diminished on the right side.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - At each discharge, the square diminished and replied.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - And as his poetical fame diminished, the harsh judgments of his personal character increased.
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope - He was growing old, and, though his influence had not diminished, the situation was getting beyond him.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - In any proportion, each antecedent may be increased or diminished by its consequent without destroying the proportion.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Now he that shall thus consider it, will easily understand that the Mixture is diminished in the same Proportion with the Diameters of the Circles.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton - From Scorpio he enters Sagittarius and, on reaching the thighs, his daily course is still further diminished.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - And while they talked, the voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one as the night-frost choked
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - From that part, the remaining ribs diminished, till the tenth and last only spanned five feet and some inches.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville
