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diminishes

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Makes smaller, decreases in size, or reduces in importance; in verse, often describes fading light, diminishing hope, or weakening forces.

Detailed Definition
To diminish is to reduce in size, amount, or importance. In the poem, the speaker says another person’s death lessens him too, using the word to express shared human connection.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Any man’s death diminishes me” (Donne, Meditation XVII); “The world is too much with us” (Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much with Us”); “No one is an island” (Donne, Meditation XVII); “One grief enters the room and changes us all” (contemporary-style example)
Additional Notes
This verb is less everyday in this exact sense and may prompt readers to check its meaning in the poem.; Found in the poem, No Man Is an Island by John Donne
Also Known As
lessens reduces shrinks wanes subsides
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