The word "lessened" is spelled with a double "s" before the "-en" suffix. This is because the stress falls on the first syllable "less," which ends with a consonant. In English, when a monosyllabic word or a stressed syllable ends with a single consonant, followed by a vowel, the consonant is doubled before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. This is known as the "short vowel, double consonant" rule. The phonetic transcription of "lessened" is /ˈlɛsənd/.
"Lessened" is an adjective that describes the act or state of reducing or diminishing in quantity, size, importance, intensity, or impact. It indicates a decrease or a decline in something, making it smaller, lighter, or less significant than before.
When an object or person is described as "lessened," it suggests that a change has occurred resulting in a reduction of its physical or tangible characteristics. This could be seen in terms of size, weight, volume, or amount. For example, if a pile of sand is lessened, it means that some of the sand has been removed, causing the pile to shrink or become smaller in size.
Similarly, this term can be used to convey a decrease in importance or significance. If a responsibility or burden is lessened, it implies that the weight or significance of such has been diminished or made less weighty. It can pertain to the impact or influence on a situation, action, or event, implying that the magnitude, severity, or intensity has been lowered.
"Lessened" can also be applied to the reduction or moderation of an emotion, feeling, or sensation. For instance, if anxiety or fear is lessened, it denotes a decrease in the intensity or strength of such emotions. This adjective is often used to characterize changes or alterations that result in a decrease or diminishment in various aspects, both concrete and abstract.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "lessened" is derived from the verb "lessen" which originated from the Old English word "lǣsian" meaning "to become smaller, decrease, make less". This Old English word was further derived from the Proto-Germanic root word "lassijaną" meaning "to make less, become less".