Redüksiyon

Redüksiyon is a Turkish term meaning reduction, used across disciplines to denote processes of making something smaller, simpler, or less complex. It is common in fields such as chemistry, medicine, mathematics and computer science, and linguistics.

In chemistry, redüksiyon refers to reduction: the gain of electrons by a chemical species and a decrease in its oxidation state. Redox reactions pair reductions with oxidations; reducing agents donate electrons. For example, zinc can reduce copper(II) ions to copper metal.

In medicine, redüksiyon denotes realigning a displaced bone or fixing a fracture to restore proper anatomy and function. This surgical or manual realignment is a common step in treating certain orthopedic injuries.

In mathematics and data science, redüksiyon describes dimensionality or data reduction: lowering the number of variables or features while preserving essential information. Common methods include principal component analysis, singular value decomposition, and other feature-reduction techniques to simplify models or visualize data.

In linguistics, redüksiyon refers to phonetic reduction: the simplification of speech sounds in connected speech, such as vowel reduction, weakened consonants, or the omission of unstressed syllables.

The term ultimately derives from Latin reducere, meaning to lead back or bring down, and has been adopted in Turkish with specialized meanings across scientific, medical, mathematical, and linguistic contexts.