enhance

English

Alternative forms

• inhance, enhaunce, inhaunce (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English enhauncen, from Anglo-Norman enhauncer, from Old French enhaucier (“make greater”), from Late Latin inaltare (“exalt”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin in + altus (“high”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhɑːns/
• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhæns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

Verb

1. (obsolete) To lift, raise up.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.i:

     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

• Bulgarian: увеличавам (bg) (uveličavam), повишавам (bg) (povišavam)
• 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)
• Maori: whakamarohi
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Middle English: enhauncen
• 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: подобря̀вам (bg) (podobrjàvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 改善 (zh) (gǎishàn)

• Dutch: uitbreiden (nl), verbeteren (nl)
• Esperanto: plibonigi
• Finnish: parantaa (fi)
• French: améliorer (fr)
• German: verbessern (de)
• Maori: whakarākai, whakarāwai
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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