entry
augment
/ɔːɡˈmɛnt/make larger or more intense
From Latin aug (increase).
from Latin augmentum "an increase, growth,"
+1 more sourcefrom Late Latin augmentare "to increase,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French augmenter "increase, enhance" (14c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English augmenten
from Old French augmenter "increase, enhance" (14c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin augmentum "an increase, growth,"
+1 more sourcefrom Late Latin augmentare "to increase,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French augmenter "increase, enhance" (14c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English augmenten
from Old French augmenter "increase, enhance" (14c.)
+1 more sourceThe Romans had a habit of making size sound majestic. Their verb augere meant not just “increase,” but “make bigger, enrich, boost the whole thing,” and that same booster energy lives on in augment, august, and even the title Augustus. So when a medieval clerk in the 1300s used augmenter, he was reaching for a word that felt like adding heft, color, and authority all at once. No wonder the noun use shows up soon after: once something can be made larger, the noun for “an increase” is waiting right behind it. It’s a tidy little piece of linguistic inflation — one root, and the thing gets grander.
The Story
The Romans had a habit of making size sound majestic. Their verb augere meant not just “increase,” but “make bigger, enrich, boost the whole thing,” and that same booster energy lives on in augment, august, and even the title Augustus. So when a medieval clerk in the 1300s used augmenter, he was reaching for a word that felt like adding heft, color, and authority all at once. No wonder the noun use shows up soon after: once something can be made larger, the noun for “an increase” is waiting right behind it. It’s a tidy little piece of linguistic inflation — one root, and the thing gets grander.
Kin & Kindred
From 'aug'·increase, enlarge, make greater
Derived Terms
English words from this root