English
increase
Increase comes from Middle English encresen, from Anglo-Norman encreistre, from Latin increscō ‘to increase’ (in- + crescō ‘to grow’).
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-1‘to grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-sḱéti1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrescō2‘to grow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrescō2‘to increase’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400encreistre2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500encresen2‘to grow or increase’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599increase2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin cresco
- 2 Wiktionary, English increase
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “That infortunate imperfit Embrion of my idle houres the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, Latin cresco‘to grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-sḱétiWiktionary, Latin crescoreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrescōWiktionary, English increase‘to grow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrescōWiktionary, English increase‘to increase’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400encreistreWiktionary, English increase
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500encresenWiktionary, English increase‘to grow or increase’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599increaseWiktionary, English increase. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “That infortunate imperfit Embrion of my idle houres the…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with increase, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’
- create ← createn ← creātus ← creō ← *ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti
- creative ← creativus ← creō ← *ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti
- creator ← creatour ← creātus ← creō ← *ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti
- creature ← creātūra ← creō ← *ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti
- cereal ← céréale ← Cerealis ← Ceres ← *Kerēs
- creole ← criollo ← crioulo ← cria ← criar
- procreation ← procreacion ← prōcreātiō ← prōcreāre ← creō
- kore ← κόρη ← *kórwā ← *kórwos
- creat ← creatus ← creō ← *ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-sḱéti
- crew ← crue ← creue ← creistre ← crēscere
through Latin crescō ‘grow’
56 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
verb (of a quantity, etc.) To become larger or greater, to greaten.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “increase”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cresco. 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 *ḱer- / increase