abatement

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Diminution in amount, degree, or intensity; moderation.
2. n. The amount lowered; a reduction.
3. n. Law The act of eliminating or annulling.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of abating, or the state of being abated; diminution, decrease, reduction, or mitigation: as, abatement of grief or pain.
2. n. The amount, quantity, or sum by which anything is abated or reduced; deduction; decrease. Specifically, a discount allowed for the prompt payment of a debt, for damage, for overcharge, or for any similar reason; rebate.
3. n. In heraldry, a mark annexed to coat-armor, in order to denote some dishonorable act of the person bearing the coat of arms, or his illegitimate descent. Nine marks for the former purpose are mentioned by heralds, but no instance of their actual use is on record. The bendlet or baton sinister (which see), a mark of illegitimacy, is of the nature of an abatement; but the paternal shield, although charged with the baton sinister, would generally be the most honorable bearing within reach of the illegitimate son. Abatements generally must be regarded as false heraldry, and are very modern in their origin. The word is also used to denote the turning upside down of the whole shield, which was common in the degrading of a knight. Also called rebatement.
4. n. In law: Removal or destruction, as of a nuisance.
5. n. Failure; premature end; suspension or diminution, as of an action or of a legacy. See abate.
6. n. The act of intruding on a freehold vacated by the death of its former owner, and not yet entered on by the heir or devisee.
7. n. In revenue law:
8. n. A deduction from or refunding of duties on goods damaged during importation or in store.
9. n. A deduction from the amount of a tax. The mode of abatement is prescribed by statute.
10. n. In carpentry, the waste of a piece of stuff caused by working it into shape.
11. n. Rebate, allowance, deduction, discount, mitigation.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of abating, or the state of being abated; a lessening, diminution, or reduction; removal or putting an end to.
2. n. The amount abated; that which is taken away by way of reduction; deduction; decrease; a rebate or discount allowed.
3. n. (Her.) A mark of dishonor on an escutcheon.
4. n. (Law) The entry of a stranger, without right, into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the act of abating
2. n. an interruption in the intensity or amount of something