enrichment

Etymology

It is formed from English enrich + -ment.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} enrich, recorded from 1382, is from Old French enrichir, also enrichier,^[4][7][2] formed from en- and riche (“rich”).^[4][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of enriching, or the state of being enriched: before 1626, in Francis Bacon's Advertisement touching an Holy War, which speaks of a translation made "not without great and ample additions, and enrichment thereof".^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From 1649 the word was also used concretely for a means of enriching, as of land,^[2] and since 1664, in John Evelyn, for the richness given to a building by ornament, and for the ornaments themselves.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) gave two senses, "augmentation of wealth" and "amplification; improvement by addition".^[6] In the 20th century the word took on scientific senses, following enrich (1945, of isotopes): an increase in the proportion of a particular, usually fissile, isotope in an element, as in nuclear fuel.^[2][3] In geology it is also the natural process by which sulphide ore deposits gain valuable metals from above.^[8]

Timeline

• 1382 – the verb enrich.^[2]
• before 1626 – the action of enriching, in Bacon.^[2]
• 1649 – a means of enriching.^[2]
• 1664 – decorative additions to a building.^[2]
• mid-20th century – increased proportion of a fissile isotope.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of making something richer, or the state of being made richer, in wealth, quality, nutrients or value: the enrichment of the soil with compost.^[8][2][3]
2. Something that enriches, especially an ornament on a building.^[8][2][3]
3. (physics) An increase in the proportion of a particular isotope, usually a fissile one, in an element, as in uranium for nuclear fuel.^[2][3]
4. (geology) The natural process by which sulphide ore deposits gain valuable metals carried down in solution.^[8]

Word family

• self-enrichment

Related words

• enrich
• rich

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster