decrescent

[Lat. decrescens, pr. par. of decresco to decrease.J I. Ordinary Language : 1. A decrease or decreasing; the action or state of becoming le . "Rocks, mountains, and the other elevations of the earth suffer a continual decrement, and grow lower and lower."-Woodward. 2. The quantity or amount lost by decreasing or diminution. II. Technically : 1. Her .: The wane of the moon from the full to the new; the moon in this state is called moon des crescent, or in décours . 2. Math .: A term in the doctrine of annuities, whence, by the annual decrease of a certain number of persons by death, it may be shown when all shall be dead. 3. Phys . (pl.): The small points by which a variable and decreasing quantity becomes gradually le . 4. Crystall .: A gradual and succe ive diminution of the layers of molecules applied to the faces of the primitive form, by which the secondary forms are hypothetically produced. ( Ogilvie .) *5. English Univ .: A fee paid at the Universities for the damage done to things in the use of the students.