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To attenuate something is to make it weaker, thinner, or less — not to cut it off, but to wind it down.
To attenuate something is to make it weaker, thinner, or lessattenuate某樣東西，就是讓它變弱、變細，或變少 not to cut it off, but to wind it down不是整個切斷，而是慢慢把它降下來
Scientists attenuate a signal so it arrives quieter; walls can attenuate noise. Doctors attenuate a virus: they it on purpose so a vaccine can teach the body without making you badly ill (an attenuated vaccine). You can also attenuate blame, force, or an effect, meaning you it.
Scientists attenuate a signal so it arrives quieter科學家會attenuate一個訊號，讓它傳到時變得比較小聲 walls can attenuate noise牆壁也能attenuate噪音 Doctors attenuate a virus醫生會attenuate病毒 they weaken it on purpose so a vaccine can teach the body without making you badly ill也就是刻意把它減弱，讓疫苗可以教會身體，卻不會讓你病得很重 (an attenuated vaccine)這就是an attenuated vaccine（減毒疫苗） You can also attenuate blame, force, or an effect你也可以attenuate責怪、力道，或某種效果 meaning you lessen it意思是把它減輕
There is an adjective too, a little less common in everyday talk: already thinned or . The Latin picture is make thin: ad- (toward) plus a verb from tenuis (thin).
There is an adjective too, a little less common in everyday talk也有形容詞的用法，在日常對話裡比較少見 already thinned or weakened意思是已經被減弱或變細的 The Latin picture is make thin拉丁文原本的畫面是'使變細' ad- (toward) plus a verb from tenuis (thin)ad-（朝向）加上源自tenuis（細）的動詞
Though actually, in real use the thin is often only a picture. A feeling, a , or an argument can be attenuated without anyone getting skinnier.
Though actually, in real use the thin is often only a picture不過實際使用時，'細'這個畫面常常只是個比喻 A feeling, a rumour, or an argument can be attenuated一種感覺、一個謠言，或一個論點都可以被attenuate without anyone getting skinnier而不會有誰真的變瘦
The word is formal and scientific; friends do not say could you attenuate the music? — they say turn it down.
The word is formal and scientific這個字正式又帶點科學味 friends do not say could you attenuate the music?朋友之間不會說could you attenuate the music? they say turn it down他們會說turn it down（把音樂關小聲一點）
Students sometimes reach for it when they mean accentuate (to stress, to make more noticeable), which is almost the opposite move.
Students sometimes reach for it when they mean accentuate學生有時候想講accentuate卻用成了這個字 (to stress, to make more noticeable)accentuate意思是強調、讓東西更明顯 which is almost the opposite move而這幾乎是相反的方向
組成Borrowed from Latin attenuātus, from attenuō: ad- (to, toward) + tenuō (to make thin), from tenuis (thin). English -ate makes both the verb (from 1530) and the adjective (from 1626).
同家族的字
- attenuationthe noun: the weakening or thinning itself
- tenuousfrom the same Latin tenuis, thin — a tenuous link is a thin one
原始詞典資料11 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
attenuateverb/əˈtɛn.juˌeɪt/
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To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree.
- A manor-house clock from the far depths of shadow struck the hour, one, in a small, attenuated tone.
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To make thinner, as by physically reshaping, starving, or decaying.
- Clumps of attenuated turkeys were suspended here and there.
- Lovell, wan and hollow-eyed, his arm in a sling, his once burly frame gaunt and attenuated with disease, nodded.
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To become thin or fine; to grow less.
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To weaken.
- We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagreness.
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To rarefy.
- "It speedily became apparent that the entire strangeness of our circumstances and surroundings—great loss of weight, attenuated but highly oxygenated air, consequent exaggeration of the results of muscular effort, rapid development of weird plants from obscure spores, lurid sky—was exciting my companion unduly."
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medicinesciencesTo reduce the virulence of a bacterium or virus.
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businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityTo reduce the amplitude of an electrical, radio, or optical signal.
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beveragesbrewingbusinessOf a beer, to become less dense as a result of the conversion of sugar to alcohol.
- A beer which does not attenuate to the expected level in fermentation will have more residual sugar and thus be sweeter and heavier-bodied.
attenuateadj/əˈtɛn.juˌeɪt/
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Slender, thin.
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Rarefied, thin, refined.
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biologybotanynatural-sciencesGradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。