enhance
verb
Wendy Perrin 
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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
Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 12 Jan. 2026
The team enhanced the design using small-molecule amidinium ligands.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 12 Jan. 2026
Carolina will be able to enhance its depth chart this offseason in free agency and the draft.
—Mike Kaye
january 12, Charlotte Observer, 12 Jan. 2026
Color drenching can make a lot of sense, however, in a contemporary-style home, where large swaths of color enhance the geometric surroundings.
—Abby Wolner, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for enhance
Cite this Entry
“Enhance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enhance. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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enhance
verb
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