Lessoning

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The act or process of making something less severe, intense, or harmful; the application or imparting of instruction or teaching to someone; the process of reducing size, amount, or degree
2. A process involving the reduction of force, impact, or extent; the delivery or giving of educational content; a means of diminishing intensity or quantity
3. The condition of causing diminution in severity or quantity; the practice of conveying knowledge or skills; an instance of lowering or decreasing something's level

Etymology: "Lessoning" is simply the -ing form of "lesson" used as a verb: to lesson something is to make it less, and the word's core meaning has been "reading" since Latin. The surprise is that the noun behind it started out as a reading, not a teaching. In Latin, "lectio" meant a reading, and it came from "legere," a verb that meant both "to read" and "to gather," as in gathering words off a page. Old French turned it into "leçon," and Middle English borrowed it as "lessoun," originally a passage read aloud, often from scripture, in a religious service. From that sense of a fixed reading came the idea of a passage to be learned, and then a unit of instruction. The verb "to lesson," meaning to reduce or diminish, is a much later development, and it comes from the noun's sense of something that gives a warning or a rebuke. The two senses, teaching and diminishing, are not linked by a single chain of meaning, but both grew out of the same familiar noun.

Synonyms: teaching, instructing, educating, training, coaching