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amplifico

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word amplifico

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
220–130 BC, Pacuvius
Ultimate origin
Latin (amplus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin amplus
Latin amplifico
Latin ample
Latin amplitudo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [amˈplɪ.fɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [amˈpliː.fi.ko][1]

Forms

amplificō (present infinitive amplificāre, perfect active amplificāvī, supine amplificātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin amplus (“large, ample”) + -ficō, with the combining form of faciō (“to make”).[2][1][3][4] De Vaan derives amplus from Proto-Italic *am-lo- (“seizable”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to grab”), but notes difficulties with the sound changes this requires.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL reads it first in Pacuvius,[3] where touching increases a cruel pain.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It means to make larger: Cicero speaks of increasing a fortune and wealth,[2][6] Valerius Maximus of increasing the number of the senate, and the Vulgate of widening the entrance of a house.[2][6] Of sound it is to make louder.[2][6] Seneca uses it of what strengthens and enlarges the mind.[2] Of persons it is to advance someone's influence and prestige, as when Cicero says the Roman people had always defended, advanced and honoured him.[2] It also means to praise loudly, to extol, and in rhetoric to enlarge upon and magnify a point: Cicero says an accuser must magnify in words the impulse of the accused.[2] Stelten gives "increase" for Church Latin.[7] Through Old French it is the source of the English amplify.[4]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of increasing pain.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of increasing wealth and of rhetorical amplification.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of enlarging the mind.[2]
  • early 15th century – amplify appears in English, from Old French.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make larger, enlarge, extend, increase; to make (a sound) louder.[2][6][1]
  2. To increase the influence or prestige of, advance.[2]
  3. To praise loudly, extol, exalt.[2][1]
  4. (rhetoric) To enlarge upon, magnify, emphasize.[2][6]

Word family

  • amplificātiō
  • amplificātor
  • amplificatrix
  • amplificē
  • amplificus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Amplifico.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/amplifico. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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