décrochissant

Décroissant is a French term that translates to "decreasing" or "declining" in English. It is most commonly used in mathematics to describe a sequence or function where each term or value is less than or equal to the preceding one. For instance, a decreasing sequence might be 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. In this case, each number is smaller than the one before it. Similarly, a decreasing function is one whose output values get smaller as its input values get larger.

The concept of décroissant is fundamental in calculus and analysis. It is often contrasted with croissant, meaning "increasing," where each term or value is greater than or equal to the preceding one. A sequence or function can be strictly decreasing, meaning each term is strictly less than the preceding one, or non-increasing, meaning each term is less than or equal to the preceding one.

Beyond mathematics, the term décroissant can be used in more general contexts to describe a downward trend or reduction. For example, one might speak of a décroissant birth rate in a population, indicating a decline in the number of births over time. Similarly, economic indicators can be described as décroissant if they are showing a downward trend. The core idea remains a movement from a higher state to a lower state.