greaten
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English gretnen (“to become great, be pregnant”), equivalent to great + -en.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹeɪtən/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Verb edit
greaten (third-person singular simple present greatens, present participle greatening, simple past and past participle greatened)
- (intransitive) To become great or large; increase; dilate.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To become great with child; become pregnant.
- (transitive) To make great; magnify; enlarge; increase.
- 1685, Thomas Ken, sermon preached […] at Whitehall:
- one studies how how to please his prince, the other how to greaten and secure him.
- 1860, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Parting Lovers:
- No blushes! all my body's blood / Has gone to greaten this poor heart, / That, loving, we may part.