dilute
dilute Lexical Profile
dilute Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make a liquid thinner or weaker by adding water or another solvent to it.
"You should dilute the concentrated bleach with cold water before cleaning the floor."
To make something weaker in force, content, or value by modifying it or adding other elements to it.
"The committee added several amendments that threatened to dilute the effectiveness of the new environmental law."
To decrease the value or proportional ownership of company shares by issuing additional stock.
"Issuing two million new shares will significantly dilute the holdings of existing investors."
• adjective
Having a relatively low concentration of solute; made weaker or thinner by the addition of water or another solvent.
"The lab technician washed the glassware with a dilute solution of nitric acid."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective, 'dilute' is primarily used in scientific and technical contexts for solutions produced by a specific process (e.g., 'dilute hydrochloric acid'), whereas the participial form 'diluted' is preferred in everyday and figurative contexts to emphasize that something has been weakened (e.g., 'diluted coffee', 'diluted authority').
• Rhymes for dilute
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century from Latin dilutus, the past participle of diluere ('to wash away, dissolve'), formed from dis- ('apart') and luere ('to wash').