strengthen

English

Etymology

From rare Middle English strengthenen (14th c.), from earlier strengthen (12th c.), where -en is the infinitive ending. Probably the original form was reinterpreted as strength +‎ -en around the time when the infinitive ending was being apocopated in late Middle English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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.

   strengthen a muscle

   strengthen a wall

   strengthen an army

   strengthen one's willpower

   strengthen one's authority

   • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2

     Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest, […]
     With powerful policy strengthen themselves.

   • 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 empower; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to enhearten.
   • 1831, Nat Turner, The Confessions of Nat Turner:

     my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose

   • 1769, The King James Bible, Deuteronomy iii. 28

     Charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.

   • Template:RQ:EHough PrqsPrc

     "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there. […]."

3. (transitive) To augment; to improve; to intensify.
4. (intransitive) To grow strong or stronger.
   • 1914, Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Our Philadelphia:

     my affection seems so superfluous that I often wonder why it should be so strong. But wise or foolish, there it is, strengthening with the years whether I will or no

Synonyms

• (to make strong or stronger): See also Thesaurus:strengthen
• (to augment): See also Thesaurus:augment

Antonyms

• weaken
• atrophy

Derived terms

• strengthener

Translations

to make strong or stronger

• Armenian: զորացնել (hy) (zoracʻnel), ուժեղացնել (hy) (užeġacʻnel)
• Catalan: enfortir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加強／加强 (zh) (jiāqiáng), 加强 (zh) (jiāqiáng)

• Crimean Tatar: pekitmek
• Czech: posílit (cs)
• Dutch: versterken (nl)
• Esperanto: plifortigi
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi)
• French: renforcer (fr), affermir (fr), raffermir (fr), fortifier (fr)
• Galician: fortalecer (gl)
• Georgian: გაძლიერება (gaʒliereba), გამაგრება (gamagreba)
• German: verstärken (de), stärken (de)
• Greek: ενισχύω (el) (enischýo)

  Ancient: ἰσχυρόω (iskhuróō)

• Hebrew: לְחַזֵק (lekhazék)
• Hungarian: megerősít (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: fortigar (io)
• Italian: rinforzare (it), rafforzare (it), corroborare (it) (rare)
• Japanese: 強くする (ja) (つよくする, tsuyoku suru), 強める (つよめる, tsuyomeru)
• Latin: corrōborō, firmo
• Lü: ᦶᦏᧄᦶᦃᧂᦶᦣᧂ (ṫhaemẋaenghaeng)
• Maori: whakakaha, whakamarohi
• Polish: stawać się coraz silniejszym, wzmacniać (pl)
• Portuguese: fortalecer (pt), reforçar (pt)
• Romanian: întări (ro)
• Russian: уси́ливать (ru) impf (usílivatʹ), уси́лить (ru) pf (usílitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оја̀чати

  Roman: ojàčati (sh)

• Spanish: fortalecer (es)
• Swedish: förstärka (sv), stärka (sv)
• Turkish: güçlendirmek (tr), kuvvetlendirmek (tr)

to animate

• Dutch: bezielen (nl), tot leven wekken, versterken (nl)
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), innostaa (fi)
• French: fortifier (fr)
• German: bestärken (de), stärken (de)
• Italian: animare (it)
• Latin: animo
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: potàknuti (sh), osokòliti (sh)

• Spanish: animar (es)
• Swahili: kuimarisha (sw)
• Turkish: yüreklendirmek (tr)

to augment

• Dutch: kracht geven
• Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), voimistaa (fi)
• German: verstärken (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: argo (la)
• Maori: whakamarohi
• Turkish: pekiştirmek (tr)

to grow strong or stronger

• Finnish: vahvistua (fi), voimistua (fi)
• German: stärker werden
• Hungarian: megerősödik (hu)
• Italian: rinforzarsi, rafforzarsi (it)
• Latin: firmor
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: a deveni mai puternic
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оја̀чати

  Roman: ojàčati (sh)

• Turkish: güçlenmek (tr), kuvvetlenmek (tr)

References

• “strengthen”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.