abate

Abate is a verb with several related meanings centered on reduction. In general usage, it means to lessen, diminish, or reduce in degree, amount, or intensity. It can describe a decline in something perceptible, such as winds abating, a storm subsiding, or noise gradually decreasing. It can also mean to remove or suppress something considered a nuisance or harm, such as abating a foul odor or pollution, or abating a nuisance through regulatory or remedial action. In legal and governmental contexts, abate often refers to reducing or suspending a claim, penalty, or requirement, or to stopping a nuisance by court order. The noun abatement denotes the act or result of abating, including tax abatements and nuisance abatements.

Etymology and form. Abate derives from Old French abat-, abattre, meaning to fell or strike down, from a- “down” + battre “to beat.” The sense “to reduce in amount or intensity” developed in English over time and is now the most common usage in everyday and technical language. The related noun abatement covers the processes and results of abating, as in tax abatement, nuisance abatement, or the abatement of a lawsuit under certain circumstances.

Usage notes. The term is more common in formal, legal, regulatory, and technical writing. In everyday speech, simpler synonyms such as lessen, reduce, or diminish are often preferred. Abatement phrases frequently appear in discussions of environmental policy, urban planning, and tax policy.