augment

Verb

WordNet 3.0

Verb (2)

  1. enlarge or increase“The recent speech of the president augmented tensions in the Near East”
  2. grow or intensify“The pressure augmented”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Augment \Aug*ment"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Augmented; p. pr. & vb. n. Augmenting.] [L. augmentare, fr. augmentum an increase, fr. augere to increase; perh. akin to Gr. ?, ?, E. wax, v., and eke, v.: cf. F. augmenter.]

1.To enlarge or increase in size, amount, or degree; to swell; to make bigger; as, to augment an army by re["e]forcements; rain augments a stream; impatience augments an evil. [1913 Webster]

But their spite still serves His glory to augment.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

2.(Gram.) To add an augment to. [1913 Webster]

Augment \Aug*ment"\, v. i. To increase; to grow larger, stronger, or more intense; as, a stream augments by rain. [1913 Webster]
Augment \Aug"ment\, n. [L. augmentum: cf. F. augment.]

1.Enlargement by addition; increase. [1913 Webster]

2.(Gram.) A vowel prefixed, or a lengthening of the initial vowel, to mark past time, as in Greek and Sanskrit verbs. [1913 Webster]

Note: In Greek, the syllabic augment is a prefixed ?, forming an intial syllable; the temporal augment is an increase of the quantity (time) of an initial vowel, as by changing ? to ?. [1913 Webster]

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