enhance

English

Alternative forms

• inhance, enhaunce, inhaunce (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English enhauncen, anhaunsen, from Anglo-Norman anhauncer (“enhance, raise”), from Vulgar Latin *inaltiāre (“raise”), derived from Latin in + altus (“high”). The /h/ in Old French was taken from haut (“high”), where it resulted from Frankish influence.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈhæns/, /ɛnˈhæns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

Verb

enhance (third-person singular simple present enhances, present participle enhancing, simple past and past participle enhanced)

1. (obsolete) To lift, raise up.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     nought aghast, his mightie hand enhaunst: / The stroke down from her head vnto her shoulder glaunst.

3. To augment or make something greater.
   • 1831, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More: Or Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, page 214:

     They had no character to preserve, except for courage; and perhaps the reputation of ferocity enhanced the value of their services, in making them feared as well as hated by the people.

   • 2000, Mordecai Roshwald, Liberty: Its Meaning and Scope, page 155:

     A hereditary monarch relies on pomp and ceremony, which enhance the respect for the institution

4. To improve something by adding features.
   • 1986, Maggie Righetti, Knitting in Plain English, page 192:

     A pom-pom to top off a stocking cap, a fringe to feather the edge of a shawl, tassels to define the points of an afghan, these are just a few of the delightful little goodies that enhance handknit things.

   • 2025 February 19, Chris Howe, “Euston: a work in progress”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 45:

     The only silver lining for businesses and local residents was that there was at least an end in sight, and that the new station, once built, would enhance the area and provide improved east-west access for pedestrians.

5. (intransitive) To be raised up; to grow larger.

   A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.

6. (radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).

Synonyms

• heighten
• See also Thesaurus:improve

Antonyms

• dehance

Derived terms

• bioenhance
• enhanceable
• enhancement
• enhanceosome
• enhancer
• enhancive
• hyperenhance
• hypoenhance
• isoenhance
• photoenhance

Translations

augment or make something greater — see also augment

• Bulgarian: увеличавам (bg) (uveličavam), повишавам (bg) (povišavam)
• Catalan: augmentar (ca)
• Dutch: vergroten (nl), uitbreiden (nl)
• Esperanto: pliigi
• Finnish: parantaa (fi)
• French: augmenter (fr), accroître (fr)
• German: erhöhen (de), vergrößern (de)
• Italian: accrescere (it), intensificare (it), incrementare (it), avanzare (it), sviluppare (it), rafforzare (it), favorire (it)
• Macedonian: уве́личи pf (uvéliči), увели́чува impf (uvelíčuva)
• Maori: whakamarohi, whakangako
• Middle English: enhauncen
• Persian: بهتر کردن (behtar kardan)
• Portuguese: aumentar (pt)
• Russian: увели́чивать (ru) impf (uvelíčivatʹ), увели́чить (ru) pf (uvelíčitʹ), повыша́ть (ru) impf (povyšátʹ), повы́сить (ru) pf (povýsitʹ), уси́ливать (ru) impf (usílivatʹ), уси́лить (ru) pf (usílitʹ)
• Spanish: aumentar (es), augmentar (disused), embonar (es), desarrollar (es), mejorar (es)
• Turkish: artırmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: збільшувати (zbilʹšuvaty)
• Volapük: geilükumön (vo)

improve something by adding features

• Bulgarian: подобря́вам (bg) (podobrjávam)
• Catalan: millorar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 改善 (zh) (gǎishàn)

• Dutch: uitbreiden (nl), verbeteren (nl)
• Esperanto: plibonigi
• Finnish: parantaa (fi)
• French: améliorer (fr)
• German: verbessern (de)
• Italian: migliorare (it), arricchire (it), potenziare (it), progredire (it), valorizzare (it)
• Macedonian: по́добри (pódobri)
• Maori: whakarākai, whakarāwai, whakangako
• Persian: اضافه کردن (fa) (ezâfe kardan), افزودن (fa) (afzudan)
• Polish: poprawiać (pl), poprawić (pl), polepszać (pl), polepszyć
• Portuguese: melhorar (pt)
• Russian: улучша́ть (ru) impf (ulučšátʹ), улу́чшить (ru) pf (ulúčšitʹ)
• Spanish: realzar (es), augmentar (disused), desarrollar (es), mejorar (es), embonar (es)
• Swedish: förbättra (sv)
• Turkish: geliştirmek (tr), iyileştirmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: покращувати (pokraščuvaty)
• Volapük: gudükumön (vo)

Middle English

Verb

enhance

1. (Late Middle English) Alternative form of enhauncen