ATTENUATION, the act of attenuating; that is, of making any fluid thinner, and less consistent than it was before. See FLUID.
The word is compounded of the Latin ad; and tenuis, thin, slender, weak.
Attenuation is defined more generally by Chauvin, the dividing or separating of the minute parts of any body, which before, by their mutual nexus or implication, formed a more continuous mass.—Accordingly, among the alchemists, we sometimes find the word used for pulverization, or the act of reducing a body into an impalpable powder. See POWDER and PULVERIZATION.
ATTENUATION
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- Written by: Ephraïm Chambers
- Category: Unclassified