enlessen

English edit

Etymology edit

En- (an intensifying prefix) + lessen (to reduce, to diminish).

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛnˈlɛsə̆n/

Verb edit

enlessen (third-person singular simple present enlessens, present participle enlessening, simple past and past participle enlessened)

(archaic) to belittle, to denigrate; to weaken; to lessen.
- c 1527–1533 (published in 1870): Nicholas Pocock, Records of the Reformation: The Divorce 1527–1533, p330
  PLEASE it your highness to be advertised that this present morning came unto prior Thomas unto his cell wherein I am lodged, the emperor’s great ambassador, accompanied with a great many gentlemen of Spayne, and demanded of him how he durst be so bold to take upon him to intermeddle in so great and weighty a matter, the which did not only enlessen and elevate the pope’s authority, but also was noyful and odious to all realms Cristenyd.