# minimize

Pronunciation: say "MIN-i-myz" US /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/, UK /ˈmɪn.ɪ.maɪz/, AUS /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmɑɪz/

## Verb

1. To make something smaller or reduce it to the lowest possible amount or degree.
   - Simple: To make something as small as you can.
   - _The new design minimizes drag, letting the car use less fuel._
   - _Farmers rotate their crops to minimize soil erosion._
2. To represent or treat something as less significant than it actually is; to downplay or diminish its importance.
   - Simple: To make something seem less important than it really is.
   - _The company's statement minimized the scale of the data breach._
   - _Historians who minimize the famine's impact ignore extensive firsthand accounts._
3. In computing, to collapse a window into an icon or caption, taking it off the main part of the screen.
   - Simple: To shrink a window on a computer screen down to a small button.
   - _He minimized the spreadsheet and opened his email instead._
   - _You can minimize a window without closing the program running inside it._
4. To treat someone in a slighting or belittling manner, behaving as though the person were of little importance.
   - Simple: To treat a person as if they do not matter.
   - _Colleagues minimized her for years until her research won a national award._
   - _Managers who minimize junior staff rarely keep talented employees for long._

## Origin

Formed from Latin "minimus" (smallest) combined with the suffix "-ize."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/minimize (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).