enrich

English

Etymology

From Middle English enrichen, from Anglo-Norman enrichir and Old French enrichier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈɹɪt͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɪtʃ

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

enrich (third-person singular simple present enriches, present participle enriching, simple past and past participle enriched)

1. (transitive) To enhance.
2. (transitive) To make (someone or something) rich or richer. [from 14th c.]

   Hobbies enrich lives.

   The choke in a car engine enriches the fuel mixture.

   Synonym: endow

   Antonyms: impoverish, lean, derich, disenrich

3. (transitive) To adorn, ornate more richly. [from 17th c.]
4. (transitive) To add nutrients or fertilizer to the soil; to fertilize. [from 17th c.]
   • 2013 January, Nancy Langston, “The Fraught History of a Watery World”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 22 January 2013, page 59:

     European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams, channels, wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River.

   Antonym: impoverish

5. (physics, transitive) To increase the amount of one isotope in a mixture of isotopes, especially in a nuclear fuel. [from 20th c.]

   Antonym: deplete

   Antonym: downblend

6. (transitive) To add nutrients to foodstuffs; to fortify.
7. (chemistry) To make to rise the proportion of a given constituent.

Derived terms

• enrichable, enriched (adj), enricher, enrichment

Translations

to enhance — see enhance

to make rich(er)

• Afrikaans: verryk
• Anglo-Norman: enrichir
• Basque: aberastu
• Bulgarian: обогатявам (bg) (obogatjavam)
• Catalan: enriquir (ca)
• Dutch: verrijken (nl)
• Finnish: rikastuttaa (fi)
• French: enrichir (fr)
• Galician: enriquecer (gl), enrequentar (archaic)
• Georgian: გაამდიდრებს (gaamdidrebs)
• German: bereichern (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gabigjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πλουτίζω (ploutízō)

• Hungarian: gazdagít (hu)
• Interlingua: inrichir
• Italian: arricchire (it)
• Japanese: 豊にする (ja) (yutaka ni suru), 富ます (tomasu)
• Latin: dītō, locuplētō (la)
• Latvian: bagātināt
• Luxembourgish: bereecheren
• Maori: whakawhairawa
• Middle English: richen
• Ngazidja Comorian: utadjirisa
• Polish: bogacić impf
• Portuguese: enriquecer (pt)
• Russian: обогащать (ru) (obogaščatʹ)
• Spanish: enriquecer (es)
• Swedish: berika (sv)
• Ukrainian: збага́чувати impf (zbaháčuvaty), збагати́ти pf (zbahatýty)

to adorn, ornate more richly

• Bulgarian: украсявам (bg) (ukrasjavam)
• Finnish: rikastuttaa (fi)
• Interlingua: inrichir
• Maori: whakanakonako, whakarāwai, whakangako, whakahaumako

to add nutrients or fertilizer to the soil; to fertilize

• Afrikaans: verryk
• Bulgarian: обогатявам (bg) (obogatjavam)
• Catalan: enriquir (ca)
• Dutch: verrijken (nl)
• Finnish: lannoittaa (fi)
• Interlingua: inrichir
• Italian: arricchire (it)
• Latvian: bagātināt
• Maori: whakamōmona, whakawairākau, whakahaumako
• Portuguese: enriquecer (pt)
• Swedish: berika (sv)

to increase the amount of one isotope in a mixture of isotopes

• Afrikaans: verryk
• Bulgarian: обогатявам (bg) (obogatjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 濃縮／浓缩 (zh) (nóngsuō)

• Dutch: verrijken (nl)
• Finnish: väkevöidä
• German: anreichern (de)
• Italian: arricchire (it)
• Persian: غنی‌سازی کردن (ğani-sâzi kardan)
• Swedish: anrika (sv)
• Vietnamese: làm giàu

to add nutrients to foodstuffs

• Finnish: lisätä ravinteita
• Latvian: bagātināt
• Maori: whakamōmona
• Swedish: berika (sv)

chemistry: to make to rise the proportion of a given constituent

• Finnish: väkevöidä

See also

• look out for number one
• every man for himself
• feather one's nest/feather one's own nest

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Enrich”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume III (D–E), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 198, column 2.

Anagrams

• Rhenic, incher, nicher, rhenic, richen