equal decrement of life

1 definition found

equal decrement of life - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Decrement \Dec"re*ment\, n. [L. decrementum, fr. decrescere. See
     Decrease.]
     1. The state of becoming gradually less; decrease;
        diminution; waste; loss.
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              Twit me with the decrements of my pendants. --Ford.
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              Rocks, mountains, and the other elevations of the
              earth suffer a continual decrement.   --Woodward.
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     2. The quantity lost by gradual diminution or waste; --
        opposed to increment.
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     3. (Crystallog.) A name given by Ha["u]y to the successive
        diminution of the layers of molecules, applied to the
        faces of the primitive form, by which he supposed the
        secondary forms to be produced.
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     4. (Math.) The quantity by which a variable is diminished.
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     Equal decrement of life.
        (a) The decrease of life in a group of persons in which
            the assumed law of mortality is such that of a given
            large number of persons, all being now of the same
            age, an equal number shall die each consecutive year.
        (b) The decrease of life in a group of persons in which
            the assumed law of mortality is such that the ratio of
            those dying in a year to those living through the year
            is constant, being independent of the age of the
            persons.
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