enlarger | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

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mid-14c., "grow fat, increase" (intrans.); c. 1400, "make larger" (trans.), from Old French enlargier "to widen, increase, make larger," from en- "make, put in" (see en- (1)) + large (see large). Meaning "expand in words, speak at large" is from 1650s. There was a Middle English verb large "to extend, increase, make bigger," but it did not survive. Related: Enlarged; enlarging.

enlargement (n.)

1530s, "a release from confinement," from enlarge in the secondary Middle English sense "release a prisoner" (mid-15c.) + -ment. Meaning "act of increasing in size" is from 1560s. Photographic sense "picture of a larger size than the negative from which it was made" is from 1866.

amplify (v.)

early 15c., "to enlarge, expand, increase," from Old French amplifier (15c.), from Latin amplificare "to enlarge," from amplus "large" (see ample) + combining form of facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Meaning "augment in volume or amount" is from 1570s. Restriction of use to sound seems to have emerged from c. 1915 in reference to radio technology.

dilate (v.)

late 14c., dilaten, "describe at length, speak at length," from Old French dilater and directly from Late Latin dilatare "make wider, enlarge," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + lātus "broad, wide, widespread, extended" (see latitude). Meaning "expand, distend, spread out, enlarge in all directions" (transitive) is from early 15c.; intransitive sense of "spread out, expand, distend" also is from early 15c. A doublet of delay. Related: Dilated; dilating.

ream (v.)

"to enlarge a hole," especially "to widen or enlarge by the use of a rotary cutter," 1815, a word of "somewhat doubtful origin" [OED], but it is probably a southwest England dialectal survival from obsolete Middle English reme "to make room, open up, extend by stretching."

This is from Old English ryman "widen, extend, enlarge," from Proto-Germanic *rumijan (source also of Old Saxon rumian, Old Norse ryma, Old Frisian rema, Old High German rumen, German räumen"to make room, widen"), from *rumaz "spacious" (see room (n.)). Related: Reamed; reaming; reamer.

Especially with out (adv.). The slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is recorded by 1914; the sexual sense is attested by 1942. To ream (someone) out in the sense of "to scold, reprimand" is recorded from 1950; earlier it was used of gun barrels, machinery, etc., "to remove (a jam or defect) by reaming" (1861).

amplification (n.)

1540s, "enlargement" in any dimension, from Latin amplificationem (nominative amplificatio) "a widening, extending," noun of action from past-participle stem of amplificare "to enlarge, broaden, increase," from amplus "large" (see ample) + combining form of facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Originally in English often of rhetorical devices; meaning "enlargement of sound by electrical technology" is from 1915.

aggrandize (v.)

1630s, "to make larger, increase," from French agrandiss-, present participle stem of agrandir "to augment, enlarge" (16c.), ultimately from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + grandire "to make great," from grandis "big, great; full, abundant" (see grand (adj.)). The double -g- spelling in English (also formerly in French) is by analogy with Latin words in ad-. Related: Aggrandized; aggrandizing.

increase (v.)

mid-14c., encresen, "become greater in size or number" (intransitive); late 14c., "cause to grow, enlarge" (transitive), from Anglo-French encress-, Old French encreiss-, present participle stem of encreistre, from Latin increscere "to increase, to grow upon, grow over, swell, grow into," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + crescere "to grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). Modern English restored the Latin spelling 16c. Related: Increased; increasing.

dilatation (n.)

c. 1400, dilatacioun, "act of expanding, expansion," especially "abnormal enlargement of an aperture of the body," from Old French dilatation and directly from Late Latin dilatationem (nominative dilatatio) "a widening," noun of state from past-participle stem of Latin dilatare "make wider, enlarge," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + lātus "broad, wide, widespread, extended" (see latitude). Also in Middle English "amplification in discourse" (late 14c.). In gynecology dilatation and curettage is by 1896.

augment (v.)

late 14c., "become more severe;" c. 1400, "to make larger; become larger," from Old French augmenter "increase, enhance" (14c.), from Late Latin augmentare "to increase," from Latin augmentum "an increase, growth," from augere "to increase, make big, enlarge, enrich," from PIE root *aug- (1) "to increase." Related: Augmented; augmenting. As a noun from early 15c.

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