Etymograph

English

amplify

Amplify comes from Latin amplus ‘abundant, ample’, from plēnus ‘full’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós1‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnos1‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplēnus1‘full’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiplus1uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplus1‘abundant, ample’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplificāre1
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amplifier1
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amplifiyen1‘to amplify, embiggen, or heighten’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1561amplify1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English amplify
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1561, Richard Eden, Aldermen of the Citie of London: “[T]he fauour of Princes and Magiſtrates noryſheth, augmenteth, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, English amplify‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nósWiktionary, English amplify‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnosWiktionary, English amplify‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplēnusWiktionary, English amplify‘full’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiplusWiktionary, English amplifyuncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplusWiktionary, English amplify‘abundant, ample’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplificāreWiktionary, English amplify
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amplifierWiktionary, English amplify
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amplifiyenWiktionary, English amplify‘to amplify, embiggen, or heighten’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1561amplifyWiktionary, English amplify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1561, Richard Eden, Aldermen of the Citie of London: “[T]he fauour of Princes and Magiſtrates noryſheth, augmenteth, and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

people, public, popular, complete, plus, supply, poll, folk, completion, supplement, implement, manipulation, comply, accomplish, complement, plural, plethora, 83 more

through Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ‘full’

full, fill, 23 more

through Latin plēnus ‘full’

plenty, plain, 19 more

through Latin amplus ‘abundant, ample’

ample, 7 more

Today it means

verb To render larger, more extended, or more intense.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amplify”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / amplify

Shirt and support for this word