Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “amplify” come from?

Amplify comes from Middle English amplifiyen, from Old French amplifier, from Latin amplificare, meaning to make large, derived from Latin amplus meaning ample or spacious, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- meaning to place or put.

amplify (English): To render larger, more extended, or more intense;...

Definitions

  1. To render larger, more extended, or more intense;...

Ancestry of “amplify”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishamplifiyenTo amplify, embiggen, or heighten
2Old Frenchamplifier—
3Latinamplificarepresent active infinitive of amplificō;...
4LatinamplificoI enlarge, extend, increase, amplify, magnify;...
5Latin-ficoForms factitive, causative, or other verbs from...
6LatinfacioI do; I make, construct, fashion, frame, build,...
7Proto-Italicfakjōto make
8Proto-Italic*θakjō—
9Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁k-yé-ti—
10Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeh₁-to do, put, place

Words derived from “amplify”

  • amplifier
  • amplifying
  • preamplifier
  • amplifiable
  • reamplify
  • overamplify
  • coamplify
  • amplifiability
  • nonamplifying
  • preamplify
  • multiamplifier
  • microamplifier
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- →