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.
1
To make thinner by adding solvent to a solution, especially by adding water.
Mix their watery store / With the chyle's current, and dilute it more.1712, Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem:
2
To weaken, especially by adding a foreign substance.
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.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:
“Stay a little.” “Not another second: language and discussion dilute thought; I will say no more.”1856, L. S. Lavenu, chapter XXXIII, in Erlesmere; or, Contrasts of Character, volume 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 336:
2 more examples
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.1980 August 30, Jil Clark, quoting Jane, “Gays Talk About Registration and the Draft”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 9:
Courts have repeatedly struck down Republican-drawn maps on the grounds that they constitute illegal racial gerrymanders designed to dilute the electoral power of Black voters, who overwhelmingly cast Democratic ballots.2025 October 27, Russell Berman, “‘California Is Allowed to Hit Back’”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2025:
3
Business, Finance, Stock market To cause the value of individual shares or the stake of a shareholder to decrease by increasing the total number of shares.
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.
1
Having a low concentration.
Clean the panel with a dilute, neutral cleaner.
2
Weak; reduced in strength by dilution; diluted.
3
Of an animal: having a lighter-coloured coat than is usual.
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.
1
An animal having a lighter-coloured coat than is usual.
On average, blues and other dilutes have weaker coats and skin problems seem more prevalent in the dilutes.2000, Joe Stahlkuppe, American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook, page 131: