DictionaryRoot: en-
Old French
en-
in, into; make or put into a state
Forms
- en-
- em- — The final sound changes before b, p, or m.
Origin
Old French en- chiefly continues Latin in-, “in, into.”
Note
An abstract state can be treated like a place that something enters.
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verb
enlarge
in-LARJ/ɪnˈlɑːrdʒ/
To increase the size or extent of something.
Etymology
The pieces express making something broad or wide. That idea of widening extends naturally to increasing size or extent; the verb has also long described becoming bigger without an outside agent.