enhance

enhance

English

Alternative forms

• inhance, enhaunce, inhaunce (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English enhauncen, anhaunsen, from Anglo-Norman anhauncer, from Old French enhaucier (“to make greater, make higher, make louder; to fatten, foster, raise in esteem”), from Vulgar Latin *inaltiāre (“exalt”, literally “to heighten”), from Latin inaltāre (“to make high, raise up”), from Latin in + altus (“high”), influenced by Old French haut (“high”), of partial Frankish origin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhæns/, /ɛnˈhæns/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

Verb

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

1. (obsolete) To lift, raise up.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     nought aghast, his mightie hand enhaunst: / The stroke down from her head vnto her shoulder glaunst.

2. 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

3. 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.

4. (intransitive) To be raised up; to grow larger.

   A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.

5. (radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).

Synonyms

• heighten
• See also Thesaurus:improve

Translations

augment or make something greater — See also translations at augment

Bulgarian: увеличавам (bg) (uveličavam), повишавам (bg) (povišavam) Catalan: augmentar (ca) Dutch: vergroten (nl), uitbreiden (nl) Esperanto: pliigi Finnish: parantaa (fi) French: augmenter (fr), accroître (fr) German: erhöhen (de), vergrößern (de) Italian: accrescere (it), intensificare (it), incrementare (it), avanzare (it), sviluppare (it), rafforzare (it), favorire (it) Macedonian: уве́личи pf (uvéliči), увели́чува impf (uvelíčuva) Maori: whakamarohi Middle English: enhauncen Persian: بهتر کردن‎ (behtar kardan) Portuguese: aumentar (pt) Russian: увели́чивать (ru) impf (uvelíčivatʹ), увели́чить (ru) pf (uvelíčitʹ), повыша́ть (ru) impf (povyšátʹ), повы́сить (ru) pf (povýsitʹ), уси́ливать (ru) impf (usílivatʹ), уси́лить (ru) pf (usílitʹ) Spanish: aumentar (es) Turkish: artırmak (tr) Ukrainian: збільшувати (zbilʹšuvaty) Volapük: geilükumön (vo)

improve something by adding features

Bulgarian: подобря́вам (bg) (podobrjávam) Catalan: millorar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 改善 (zh) (gǎishàn) Dutch: uitbreiden (nl), verbeteren (nl) Esperanto: plibonigi Finnish: parantaa (fi) French: améliorer (fr) German: verbessern (de) Italian: migliorare (it), arricchire (it), potenziare (it), progredire (it), valorizzare (it) Macedonian: по́добри (pódobri) Maori: whakarākai, whakarāwai, whakangako Persian: اضافه کردن‎ (fa) (ezâfe kardan), افزودن‎ (fa) (afzudan) Polish: poprawiać (pl), poprawić (pl), polepszać (pl), polepszyć Portuguese: melhorar (pt) Russian: улучша́ть (ru) impf (ulučšátʹ), улу́чшить (ru) pf (ulúčšitʹ) Spanish: realzar (es) Swedish: förbättra (sv) Turkish: geliştirmek (tr), iyileştirmek (tr) Ukrainian: покращувати (pokraščuvaty) Volapük: gudükumön (vo)

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Middle English

Verb

enhance

1. Alternative form of enhauncen