increase

English Online Dictionary. What means increase‎? What does increase mean?

English

Alternative forms

• encrease (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English encresen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman encreistre, from Latin increscere (“increase”), present active infinitive of increscō, from in (“in, on”) + crescō (“grow”).

The noun is from Middle English encres, from the verb.

Pronunciation

• (verb): enPR: ĭnkrēsʹ, IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkɹiːs/
• (noun): enPR: ĭnʹkrēs, IPA^(key): /ˈɪnkɹiːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs
• Hyphenation: in‧crease

Verb

increase (third-person singular simple present increases, present participle increasing, simple past and past participle increased)

1. (intransitive) (of a quantity, etc.) To become larger or greater.

2. (transitive) To make (a quantity, etc.) larger.
3. To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific.
4. (astronomy, intransitive) To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax.

Synonyms

• (become larger): wax, go up, grow, rise, soar (rapidly), shoot up (rapidly); See also Thesaurus:increase
• (make larger): increment, raise, up (informal); See also Thesaurus:augment
• (multiply by production of young): proliferate, propagate, teem
• (to show more of the surface): wax

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "become larger"): decrease, drop, fall, go down, plummet (rapidly), plunge (rapidly), reduce, shrink, sink; See also Thesaurus:decrease
• (antonym(s) of "make larger"): cut, decrease, decrement, lower, reduce; See also Thesaurus:diminish
• (antonym(s) of "multiply by production of young"):
• (antonym(s) of "to show more of the surface"): wane

Derived terms

• increasable
• Increase

Translations

Noun

increase (countable and uncountable, plural increases)

1. An amount by which a quantity is increased.
2. For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger
3. Offspring, progeny
4. (knitting) The creation of one or more new stitches; see Increase (knitting).

Synonyms

• (amount by which a quantity is increased): gain, increment, raise (US, said of pay), rise, uptick; See also Thesaurus:adjunct or Thesaurus:acquisition
• (act or process of becoming larger): enlargement, expansion; See also Thesaurus:augmentation

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "amount by which a quantity is increased"): cut, decrease, decrement, drop, fall, loss, lowering, reduction, shrinkage; See also Thesaurus:decrement
• (antonym(s) of "act or process of becoming larger"): decline, decrease, diminishment; See also Thesaurus:diminution

Derived terms

• natural increase rate

Translations

Further reading

• “increase”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “increase”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “increase”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Cairenes, Ceresian, cerasine, resiance