augment — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To increase; to make larger or supplement.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   The money from renting out a spare room can augment a salary.

   More examples (1)

   [T]he fauour of Princes and Magiſtrates noryſheth, augmenteth, and amplyfyeth all artes and ſciences by liberalitie, and extynguyſheth the ſame by miſerable couetouſnes and parcimonie.

2. To grow; to increase; to become greater.

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Reflexive

3. To slow the tempo or meter, e.g. for a dramatic or stately passage.

4. To increase an interval, especially the largest interval in a triad, by a half step (chromatic semitone).

5. To add an augment to.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

1. A grammatical prefix In some languages, a prefix *é- (अ- (a-) in Sanskrit, ἐ- (e-) in Greek) indicating a past tense of a verb.

   Examples

   The augment is found in Greek, Indo-Iranian, Armenian and Phrygian.

2. A grammatical prefix Especially Old Irish, a preverb, usually ro-, used to give a verb a resultative or potential meaning.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Fundamentally the augment characterizes a verbal action viewed from a non-contemporary standpoint, either the moment of speaking (or writing) or a further verbal action.

3. A grammatical prefix In some languages, an additional vowel prepended to the noun prefix.

4. An increase.

Verb

1. enlarge or increase

   Broader terms

   increase

   Examples

   The recent speech of the president augmented tensions in the Near East

2. grow or intensify

   Broader terms

   grow

   Examples

   The pressure augmented