Dictionary

magnify en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈmaɡnɪfaɪ/ (UK)
• /ˈmæɡnɪfaɪ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English magnifien, from Middle French magnifier, from Latin magnificāre, from magnificus.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To praise, glorify (someone or something, especially God).
   • For they herde them speake with tonges, and magnify God. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:
   • For he who freely magnifies what hath been nobly done, and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives ye the best cov'nant of his fidelity […] 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
   • Having already described him [the whale] in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archæological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Fossil Whale”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 506:
2. (transitive) To make (something) larger or more important.
   • But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal. This only magnified the indispensable nature of the oligopolists. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
3. (transitive) To make (someone or something) appear greater or more important than it is; to intensify, exaggerate.
4. (transitive) To make (something) appear larger by means of a lens, magnifying glass, telescope etc.
   • Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
5. (intransitive, obsolete, slang) To have effect; to be of importance or significance.
   • My Governess […] told him I was continually eating some Trash or other. […] But this magnified but little with my Father. 1712 July 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, July 15, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 431; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

magnifying glass · magnifier · biomagnify · demagnify · overmagnify · magnifiable · remagnify · magnification · unmagnify

Relateds

minify

Synonyms

idolize · transfigure · panegyrize · honor · belaud · appraise · extol · aggrandize · praise · exalt · commend · laud · bepraise · applaud · lionize · extol · revere · laud · enthrone · eulogize · worthy · glorify · puff · cry up · magnify · speak well of · exalt · venerate

Translations (40)

ru увели́чивать (to make larger) · it ingrandire (to make larger) · es magnificar (to make larger) · el μεγεθύνω (to make larger) · ro mări (to make larger) · mk увеличува (to make larger) · uk збі́льшувати (to make larger) · no forstørre (to make larger) · hu felnagyít (to make larger) · pl powiększać (to make larger) · io grandigar (to make larger) · got 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to make larger) · bg увеличавам (to make larger) · grc μεγαλύνω (to make larger) · mk зголемува (to make larger) · hu kinagyít (to make larger) · kmr vepejilandin (to make larger) · gl magnificar (to make larger) · sv förstora (to make larger) · de vergrößern (to make larger) · ka გადიდება (to make larger) · cs zvětšit (to make larger) · fi suurentaa (to make larger) · it ingigantire (to make larger) · ru увели́чить (to make larger) · sl povečati (to make larger) · om guddisuu (to make larger) · it amplificare (to make larger) · fr agrandir (to make larger) · pt ampliar (to make larger) · nl vergroten (to make larger) · hu nagyít (to make larger) · ja 広げる (to make larger) · ja 大きくする (to make larger) · fa بزرگ نمودن (to make larger) · ja 拡大する (to make larger) · ia aggrandir (to make larger) · uk збі́льшити (to make larger) · sl približati (to make larger) · pt magnificar (to make larger)