To minimize something means to make it as small or as unimportant as possible. It can refer to reducing a physical amount, like waste, or downplaying the seriousness of a problem.
From ‘minimum’ meaning ‘smallest amount’ and the verb-forming suffix ‘-ize.’ It became common in English in the 19th century.
In computing, ‘minimize’ literally shrinks windows out of sight, which is a perfect metaphor for how we sometimes ‘minimize’ problems in our minds. The word always carries a direction: whatever it touches, it pushes downward.
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