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

He said: "In the scientific literature there are some reported synergies between viral respiratory infections, for example, flu and meningococcal infections as the viral infections may potentiate the spread."

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

"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 • Oct. 15, 2025

This prompted a Hebbian model in which ‘fear cells’ with co-active inputs conveying the paired CS–US presentations potentiate their responses to subsequent CS presentations1, 3, 5.

From Nature • Mar. 21, 2017

And I think there are also conditions to modernize, to update and to find more advantages, so that it will potentiate shared common possibilities that we, the three partners, the three strategic partners have.

From Time • Jul. 22, 2016

It's clean enough to ask any potentiate of Europe to eat off'n any spot in it.

From Vacation with the Tucker Twins by Speed, Nell