potentiate

American  

[puh-ten-shee-eyt] / pəˈtɛn ʃiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

potentiated, potentiating

1. to cause to be potent; make powerful.

2. to increase the effectiveness of; intensify.

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potentiate British  

/ pəˈtɛnʃɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. to cause to be potent

2. med to increase (the individual action or effectiveness) of two drugs by administering them in combination with each other

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Other Word Forms

• potentiation noun
• potentiator noun

Etymology

Origin of potentiate

1810–20; < Latin potenti ( a ) power ( potency ) + -ate ¹

Example Sentences

"By building the right immune infrastructure inside tumors, we can potentiate the patient's own defenses -- both T cell and B cell arms -- against cancer growth, relapse, and metastasis."

From Science Daily

"Ideally, we aim for venetoclax to potentiate the anti-leukemia properties of asparaginase while keeping its toxicity levels in check. These concepts warrant further investigation in future clinical trials."

From Science Daily

In experiments on both cell cultures and mice, it was possible to see how SMAD3 inhibition, together with the signals from the nerve cells, potentiates the tumour's ability to grow and spread.

From Science Daily

He was not potentiated by a recession or a terrorist atrocity, let alone a nuclear war or a fertility crisis.

From The Guardian

Non-adaptive plasticity potentiates rapid adaptive evolution of gene expression in nature.

From Nature