In music, a diminuendo is a gradual decrease in loudness. As a direction in a score, it tells performers to get softer over a passage.
From Italian "diminuendo" meaning "diminishing," from Latin "diminuere" (to lessen), related to "diminish." It entered English through musical notation and terminology.
Diminuendo is like a musical fade-out written into the score. Composers use it not just for volume control, but to shape emotion—turning tension, anger, or excitement gently down instead of stopping it abruptly.
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