English
magnify
Magnify comes from Latin magnificus ‘great, noble, distinguished, eminent, august’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂s‘big, great’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m̥ǵh₂nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*magnos‘great’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnus‘great, large, big’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnificus‘great, noble, distinguished, eminent, august’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnificāre
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600magnifier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500magnifien
- Englishearliest quotation 1526magnify
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂s‘big, great’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*m̥ǵh₂nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*magnos‘great’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnus‘great, large, big’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnificus‘great, noble, distinguished, eminent, august’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmagnificāre
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600magnifier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500magnifien
- Englishearliest quotation 1526magnify
Earliest quotation: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “For they herde them speake with tonges, and magnify…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s ‘big, great’
major, master, mayor, maxim, mair, mickle, muckle, maggiore, mahila, 17 more
through Latin magnus ‘great, large, big’
Today it means
verb To praise, glorify (someone or something, especially God).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s / magnify