strengthen

English

Pronunciation

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Etymology

strength +‎ -en

Verb

strengthen (third-person singular simple present strengthens, present participle strengthening, simple past and past participle strengthened)

1. (transitive) To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify; to reinforce.

   to strengthen a limb, a bridge, an army

   to strengthen an obligation

   to strengthen authority.

   • 1851, Anonymous, Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog

     A little hardship, and a little struggling with the rougher elements of life, will perchance but strengthen and increase his courage, and prepare him for the conflicts and struggles of after years.

2. (transitive) To animate; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to fix in resolution; to hearten.
3. (transitive) To augment; to improve; to intensify.
4. (intransitive) To grow strong or stronger.

Antonyms

• atrophy

Translations

to make strong or stronger

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加強 (cmn), 加强 (cmn) (jiāqiáng)

• Crimean Tatar: pekitmek
• Czech: posílit (cs)
• Dutch: versterken (nl)
• Esperanto: plifortigi (eo)
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi)
• French: renforcer (fr), raffermir (fr), fortifier (fr)
• German: verstärken (de), stärken (de)
• Greek: ενισχύω (el) (enischýo)
• Hungarian: megerősít (hu)

• Italian: rinforzare (it)
• Japanese: 強くする (ja) (つよくする, tsuyoku suru), 強める (ja) (つよめる, tsuyomeru)
• Latin: corrōborō (la), firmo (la)
• Maori: whakakaha (mi)
• Polish: stawać się coraz silniejszym (pl), wzmacniać (pl)
• Portuguese: fortalecer (pt)
• Russian: усиливать (ru) (usílivatʹ) impf., усилить (ru) (usílitʹ) pf.
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оја̀чати (sh)

  Roman: ojàčati (sh)

• Spanish: fortalecer (es)

to animate

• Dutch: bezielen, tot leven wekken
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), innostaa (fi)
• German: bestärken (de), stärken (de)
• Latin: animo (la)

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: potàknuti (sh), osokòliti (sh)

• Spanish: animar (es)

to augment

• Dutch: kracht geven
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), voimistaa (fi)

• German: verstärken (de)
• Latin: argo (la)

to grow strong or stronger

• Finnish: vahvistua (fi), voimistua (fi)
• German: stärker werden
• Hungarian: megerősödik (hu)
• Italian: rinforzarsi (it)

• Latin: firmor (la)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оја̀чати (sh)

  Roman: ojàčati (sh)

Derived terms

• strengthener

References

• strengthen in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913