lengthen

Etymology

It is formed from English length + -en,^[2][3][4][5] and the OED compares strengthen.^[2] The base noun is from Old English lengþu,^[3][6] from Proto-Germanic *langiþō,^[3][6][7] an abstract noun from *langaz (“long”), the root of long.^[3][7] It has cognates in Old Norse lengd, Old Frisian lengethe and Dutch lengte.^[3] An earlier verb of this meaning was simply length, dated about 1300 by Etymonline and 1375 by the OED.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make longer: about 1450, in An Alphabet of Tales.^[2] Etymonline dates the verb to the late 14th century,^[3] and Merriam-Webster to the 14th century.^[8] The MED, whose entry takes in length and lengthe as well, has a quotation from before 1375 for drawing out a discourse: "It wold lengeþ þis lessoun a ful long while".^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word covered length in time as well as in space from the start: the Middle English record has it for prolonging a life, a day, a cure or a discourse.^[9] The intransitive sense, to grow longer, is in the OED from 1557, in North's translation of Guevara,^[2] though Etymonline finds it in the late 14th century.^[3] From 1658 it was used of giving a sound or syllable a longer duration.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) listed three senses: to make longer, to protract, and to protract pronunciation.^[10] A use for making something last longer, or eking it out, appears before 1661 in Fuller,^[2] and it could mean thinning a drink: Merriam-Webster quotes Dickens's "lengthening out a short supply of wine",^[8] and in Lancashire one might offer to have strong tea lengthened.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – to make longer, to prolong.^[2]
• 1557 – intransitive, to become longer.^[2]
• 1658 – to give a sound or syllable a longer duration.^[2][5]
• before 1661 – to make something last longer, to eke out.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make something longer in space or time; to extend or prolong: The tailor lengthened the sleeves by an inch.^[12][8][2]
2. To become longer: The afternoon shadows lengthened across the yard.^[12][8][2]
3. To make a sound or syllable longer in pronunciation.^[2][5]
4. To make a supply last longer, especially by diluting a drink.^[2][8]

Word family

• lengthener

Related words

• length
• long
• lengthy

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 o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins