Reduktions

Reduktions is the plural form of the German noun Reduktion and is used in various disciplines to refer to processes or results that involve decreasing, lowering, or simplifying. In English-language technical writing the term may appear as a loanword when listing types of reductions across fields.

In chemistry, a reduction is a reaction in which a species increases its electron count or decreases its oxidation state, typically by gaining electrons from a reducing agent. Redox reactions couple reduction with oxidation. Common reductions include metal ore refining with carbon monoxide, hydrogenation of alkenes, and organic reductions with hydride donors such as sodium borohydride or lithium aluminum hydride.

In linguistics, phonetic reduction describes the weakening or loss of sounds in connected speech, often affecting vowels or syllables in unstressed positions, as in English contraction or rapid speech.

In biology and biochemistry, reductive processes build complex molecules from smaller units, using electrons supplied by reducing equivalents such as NADPH; reductive carboxylation and reductive amination are examples.

In mathematics and computer science, reductions transform one problem into another to compare difficulty. A reduction from problem A to problem B shows that B is at least as hard as A, and reductions are central to complexity classifications and completeness results.

In commerce, reductions are price reductions offered to customers as discounts or sales.