English
richen
From rich + -en.
A compound of rich + -en
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’
…
Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz ‘kingly’
Proto-West Germanic *rīkī ‘powerful’
Old English rīċe ‘powerful’
Middle English riche ‘strong’
English rich
Today it means
verb To make or render rich or richer.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “richen”. 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 / richen