enhance

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.

verb

1. (obsolete) To lift, raise up.
2. To augment or make something greater.
   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. 1831, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More: Or Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, page 214
   A hereditary monarch relies on pomp and ceremony, which enhance the respect for the institution 2000, Mordecai Roshwald, Liberty: Its Meaning and Scope, page 155
3. To improve something by adding features.
   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. 1986, Maggie Righetti, Knitting in Plain English, page 192
4. (intransitive) To be raised up; to grow larger.
   A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.
5. (radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).