Downgrading

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of lowering someone or something to a less important rank or position ; the process of diminishing the quality, level, or value of something
2. A reduction in rank or official status assigned to a person or thing ; a decline in standard, effectiveness, or worth
3. An official or deliberate move to assign a lower status or position ; the act of making something inferior or less desirable in condition or amount

Etymology: "Downgrade" is a compound of "down" and "grade," and the "grade" part is the more interesting one. It comes from Latin "gradus," meaning step or degree, which passed into English through French "grade" and entered the language in the 1600s, initially in the sense of a step or rank in a series. The verb "to grade" soon took on the sense of sorting things into ranks or classes, and "down" was added to describe moving something to a lower step on that scale. The "grade" in "upgrade" and "downgrade" is therefore literally a stair. Climbing or descending a series of steps, which is what the Latin word described, became the basis for ranking people, goods, and qualities. The "down" in the compound simply marks the direction of movement along that ladder, so the word is a fairly transparent metaphor from physical stairs to social or qualitative rank.

Synonyms: devaluation, demotion, reduction, lowering, diminution

Antonyms: upgrading, promotion