# dilute
## English
### Etymology

From Latin dīlūtus, from dīluere (“to wash away, dissolve, cause to melt, dilute”), from dī-, dis- (“away, apart”) + luere (“to wash”). See lave, and compare deluge.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /daɪˈljuːt/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /daɪˈlut/, /dɪˈlut/
* Rhymes: -uːt

### Verb

dilute (third-person singular simple present dilutes, present participle diluting, simple past and past participle diluted)
* (transitive) To make thinner by adding solvent to a solution, especially by adding water.
** 1712, Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem:Mix their watery store / With the chyle's current, and dilute it more.
* (transitive) To weaken, especially by adding a foreign substance.
** 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “[The First Book of Opticks. Part I.] ”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 36:For if these Colours be diluted and weakened by the Mixture of any adventitious light, the distance between the places of the Paper will not be so great.
** 1856, L. S. Lavenu, chapter XXXIII, in Erlesmere; or, Contrasts of Character‎, volume 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 336:“Stay a little.” “Not another second: language and discussion dilute thought; I will say no more.”
** 1980 August 30, Jil Clark, quoting Jane, “Gays Talk About Registration and the Draft”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 9:It's healthy to have people in the military who would perhaps rather be somewhere else; they can dilute the more gung-ho military types.
* (transitive, stock market) To cause the value of individual shares or the stake of a shareholder to decrease by increasing the total number of shares.
* (intransitive) To become attenuated, thin, or weak.
    It dilutes easily.

#### Antonyms

* condense
* concentrate

#### Derived terms

* dilutee
* diluteness
* diluter
* dilutive
* haemodiluting
* overdilute
* predilute
* semidilute
* underdilute
* undilute

#### Related terms

* diluent
* dilutant
* dilution
* dilutory
* diluvium
* dilutable

#### Translations
### Adjective

dilute (comparative more dilute, superlative most dilute)
* Having a low concentration.
    Clean the panel with a dilute, neutral cleaner.
* Weak; reduced in strength by dilution; diluted.
* Of an animal: having a lighter-coloured coat than is usual.
    a dilute calico
    a cat with a dilute tortoiseshell coat

#### Derived terms

* dilute Russell's viper venom time

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

dilute (plural dilutes)
* An animal having a lighter-coloured coat than is usual.
** 2000, Joe Stahlkuppe, American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook, page 131:On average, blues and other dilutes have weaker coats and skin problems seem more prevalent in the dilutes.

### See also

* Concentration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* dilate

### References

* “dilute”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “dilute”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

## Latin
### Participle

dīlūte
* vocative masculine singular of dīlūtus