Increase

Word to Analyze: increase

Origin and History

The verb increase traces its roots to the Latin increscere, a compound of in- “into” and crescere “to grow.” The Latin verb entered Middle English as increasen, borrowing from Old French encrer, itself a late Latin derivative. Its earliest recorded use in English dates to the early 14th century, where it appeared in legal and commercial texts as a literal “to grow into”—the idea of something expanding or becoming larger. Over the centuries, increase shed its strictly physical connotation and acquired metaphorical extensions: to augment a number, to intensify an emotion, or to multiply in abstract senses such as influence or complexity.

Depth of Meaning

Beyond its dictionary definition, increase carries a subtle dance between the tangible and the intangible. When we say that “hope increased,” we are not merely measuring a quantity; we feel the swell of optimism. The word conjures images of growth that is both inevitable and hopeful, a forward momentum in time. Its connotations span the practical—“the company’s profits increased”—to the poetic—“love increased between them.” In rhetoric, an “increase” often signals a turning point, a climax where stakes rise. Emotionally, it invites anticipation: the more something rises, the closer we come to a resolution or a revelation.

Usage Example

“And as the sun rose, so did my courage; each heartbeat a quiet increase that steadied me against the storm.” – Anonymous, from a modern reflective prose collection.

This sentence exemplifies how increase can be woven into imagery, turning a simple rise in courage into a palpable, almost physical phenomenon.