Wiktionary

enhance

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English enhauncen, anhaunsen, from Anglo-Norman anhauncer (“enhance, raise”), from Vulgar Latin *inaltiāre (“raise”), derived from Latin in + altus (“high”). The /h/ in Old French was taken from haut (“high”), where it resulted from Frankish influence.

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

enhance (third-person singular simple present enhances, present participle enhancing, simple past and past participle enhanced)

  1. (obsolete) To lift, raise up.
  3. To augment or make something greater.
    • 1831, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More: Or Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, page 214:
      They had no character to preserve, except for courage; and perhaps the reputation of ferocity enhanced the value of their services, in making them feared as well as hated by the people.
    • 2000, Mordecai Roshwald, Liberty: Its Meaning and Scope, page 155:
      A hereditary monarch relies on pomp and ceremony, which enhance the respect for the institution
  4. To improve something by adding features.
    • 1986, Maggie Righetti, Knitting in Plain English, page 192:
      A pom-pom to top off a stocking cap, a fringe to feather the edge of a shawl, tassels to define the points of an afghan, these are just a few of the delightful little goodies that enhance handknit things.
  5. (intransitive) To be raised up; to grow larger.
    A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.
  6. (radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).

Synonyms edit

Antonyms edit

Translations edit

Middle English edit

Verb edit

enhance

  1. Alternative form of enhauncen
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=enhance&oldid=76087482"