μειόω

From μείων (meíōn, “lesser”) +‎ -όω (-óō).

μειόω • (meióō)

1. to lessen, diminish, subtract, temper
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 9.20.3:

     ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν σχημάτων μένοντας αὔξειν ἢ μειοῦν τὸ περιλαμβανόμενον τῇ στρατοπεδείᾳ χωρίον, κατὰ λόγον ἀεὶ τῶν προσγινομένων ἢ τῶν χωριζομένων ἐκ τῆς παρεμβολῆς:

     potè dè pálin epì tôn autôn skhēmátōn ménontas aúxein ḕ meioûn tò perilambanómenon têi stratopedeíāi khōríon, katà lógon aeì tôn prosginoménōn ḕ tôn khōrizoménōn ek tês parembolês:

     • Translation by Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh

       at other times to keep the same shape in the parts, and to increase or diminish the whole area on which the camp stands, adding or subtracting from all proportionally

   Antonyms: αὔξω (aúxō), αὐξάνω (auxánō)

   1. to put down, degrade, to lessen in honor
      • 100 BCE – 1 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca 11.77.6:

        Ἐφιάλτης ὁ Σοφωνίδου, δημαγωγὸς ὢν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος παροξύνας κατὰ τῶν Ἀρεοπαγιτῶν, ἔπεισε τὸν δῆμον ψηφίσματι μειῶσαι τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλήν

        Ephiáltēs ho Sophōnídou, dēmagōgòs ṑn kaì tò plêthos paroxúnas katà tôn Areopagitôn, épeise tòn dêmon psēphísmati meiôsai tḕn ex Areíou págou boulḗn

        Ephialtes the son of Sophonides, who, being a popular leader, had provoked the masses to anger against the Areopagites, persuaded the Assembly to vote to curtail the power of the Council of the Areopagus

   2. to demean, disparage, to lessen by words
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 6.3.17:

        διηγοῦ, ὦ Ἀράσπα: καὶ μηδὲν ἐλάττου τοῦ ἀληθοῦς μηδὲ μείου τὰ τῶν πολεμίων. κρεῖττον γὰρ μείζω οἰηθέντας μείονα ἰδεῖν ἢ μείω ἀκούσαντας ἰσχυρότερα εὑρίσκειν.

        diēgoû, ô Aráspa: kaì mēdèn eláttou toû alēthoûs mēdè meíou tà tôn polemíōn. kreîtton gàr meízō oiēthéntas meíona ideîn ḕ meíō akoúsantas iskhurótera heurískein.

        • Translation by Walter Miller

          Tell us, Araspas, what it is of the first importance for us to know; and do not detract anything from the truth nor underrate the real strength of the enemy. For it is better for us to think it greater and find it less than to hear that it is less and find it really more formidable.

      Antonym: μεγαλύνω (megalúnō)

2. (passive voice) to worsen, to become weaker (with accusative of specification to denote the thing one has worsened in)
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.8.1:

     εἶτα ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀχθεινότατόν τε τοῦ βίου καὶ ἐν ᾧ πάντες τὴν διάνοιαν μειοῦνται ἀπέλιπεν

     eîta hóti tò mèn akhtheinótatón te toû bíou kaì en hôi pántes tḕn diánoian meioûntai apélipen

     • Translation by Edgar Cardew Marchant

       Secondly, he escaped the most irksome stage of life and the inevitable diminution of mental powers

   1. (with genitive) to fall short of
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.5.65:

        εἰ δέ τι ἄρα τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἰσχύος μειοῦσθαι δοκοῦσιν, ὁ σίδηρος ἀνισοῖ τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς τοῖς ἰσχυροῖς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ

        ei dé ti ára tês toû sṓmatos iskhúos meioûsthai dokoûsin, ho sídēros anisoî toùs astheneîs toîs iskhuroîs en tôi polémōi

        • Translation by Walter Miller

          And if it is thought with some justice that they are inferior in bodily strength, yet on the field of battle steel makes the weak equal to the strong

• Greek: μειώνω (meióno)

• “μειόω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μειόω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μειόω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette