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subtraction

1. The act or operation of subtracting or taking away a part.

2. (Science: mathematics) The taking of a lesser number or quantity from a greater of the same kind or denomination; an operation for finding the difference between two numbers or quantities.

3. The withdrawing or withholding from a person of some right to which he is entitled by law.

thus the subtraction of conjugal rights is when either the husband or wife withdraws from the other and lives separate without sufficient reason. The subtraction of a legacy is the withholding or detailing of it from the legatee by the executor. In like manner, the withholding of any service, rent, duty, or custom, is a subtraction, for which the law gives a remedy.

Origin: L. Subtractio a drawing back. See Subtract, and cf. Substraction.