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Enhance Has Latin Roots
When enhance was borrowed into English in the 13th century, it literally meant to raise something higher. That sense, though now obsolete, provides a clue about the origins of the word. Enhance, which was spelled enhauncen in Middle English, comes to us from Anglo-French enhaucer or enhauncer ("to raise"), which can be traced back to the Latin altus ("high") by way of an assumed Vulgar Latin verb inaltiare, which would have been formed by combining the prefix in- with the Latin altus. Although enhance initially applied only to physically making things higher, it developed an additional and less literal sense of "to exalt especially in rank or spirit," and quickly acquired extended figurative senses for raising the value or attractiveness of something or someone.
Examples of enhance in a Sentence
Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2025
The new sedan also integrates BYD’s latest Tianshen C driver-assistance suite, which adds adaptive cruise, lane-centering, and enhanced safety automation to support more comfortable long-distance driving.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Some of these technologies are essential for ensuring the proper functioning of the service or website and cannot be disabled, while others are optional but serve to enhance the user experience in various ways.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 24 Oct. 2025
The associations had requested to leave a window open for companies to enhance auditing on their own.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for enhance
Cite this Entry
“Enhance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enhance. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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enhance
verb
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