enhance

[en-hans, -hahns]

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verb (used with object), en·hanced, en·hanc·ing.

to raise to a higher degree; intensify; magnify: The candlelight enhanced her beauty.

to raise the value or price of: Rarity enhances the worth of old coins.

Origin of enhance

1325–75; Middle English enhauncen < Anglo-French enhauncer, apparently for Old French enhaucer, equivalent to en- en-¹ + haucer “to raise” (French hausser) from the unattested Vulgar Latin altiāre (derivative of Latin altus “high,” with h- < Germanic; see haughty), though -n- is unexplained

Related formsen·hance·ment, nounen·hanc·ive, adjectiveself-en·hance·ment, nounun·en·hanced, adjective

Synonym study

2. See elevate.

Antonyms for enhance

1. diminish. 2. reduce.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for enhanced

upgrade, raise, augment, strengthen, intensify, complement, appreciate, enlarge, increase, reinforce, heighten, boost, aggrandize, pyramid, magnify, exalt, swell, exaggerate, elevate, beautify

Examples from the Web for enhanced

Contemporary Examples of enhanced

Administration lawyers also approved the "enhanced interrogation techniques" and said they were legally permissible.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Dec. 14
PunditFact.com
December 14, 2014
Six of those over 12 years in prison were part of enhanced sentence due to the fact she was pregnant at the time.
States Slap Pregnant Women With Harsher Jail Sentences
Emily Shire
December 12, 2014
After just a “few minutes” of questioning at Cobalt, he was subject to enhanced interrogation techniques.
Inside the CIA’s Sadistic Dungeon
Tim Mak
December 9, 2014
The GOP also enhanced its hold on the statehouse, which the party took over two years ago.
Arkansas’s Blue Collar Social Conservatives Don’t Know What’s Coming
Monica Potts
November 10, 2014
In mid-July the British anti-aircraft guns had been reinforced and enhanced by a new American radar system.
Life Under Air Strikes: Children Under Fire Will Never Forget — or Forgive
Clive Irving
August 3, 2014

Historical Examples of enhanced

In the silvery moonlight all the fairy, flower-like quality of her was enhanced.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
The grim reality of the one had enhanced the importance of the other.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
The sincerity of the religious feeling is enhanced by its simplicity.
Mountain Meditations
L. Lind-af-Hageby
The sense of the meaning and value of human life is enhanced.
College Teaching
Paul Klapper
He knew she did not expect to need an enhanced complexion in this obscurity.
The Prisoner
Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for enhanced

enhance

verb

(tr) to intensify or increase in quality, value, power, etc; improve; augment

Derived Formsenhancement, nounenhancer, nounenhancive, adjective

Word Origin for enhance

C14: from Old French enhaucier, from en- 1 + haucier to raise, from Vulgar Latin altiāre (unattested), from Latin altus high

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for enhanced

enhance

late 13c., anhaunsen "to raise, make higher," from Anglo-French enhauncer, probably from Old French enhaucier "make greater, make higher or louder; fatten, foster; raise in esteem," from Vulgar Latin *inaltiare, from Late Latin inaltare "raise, exalt," from altare "make high," from altus "high" (see old).

Meaning "raise in station, wealth, or fame" attested in English from c.1300. The -h- in Old French supposedly from influence of Frankish *hoh "high." Related: Enhanced; enhancing.