Magnify Meaning
/ˈmaɡnɪfaɪ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo praise, glorify (someone or something, especially God).
verbTo make (something) larger or more important.
Sentence Examples
You can use a magnifying glass to magnify small text.
People often seek to magnify others' faults while minimizing their own.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
To see the tiny cells, the biologist used a lens that could ____ the image many times.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can use a magnifying glass to ____ the small text and make it much easier for you to read comfortably.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English magnifien, from Middle French magnifier, from Latin magnificāre, from magnificus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For they herde them speake with tonges, and magnify God."
— 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:
"For he who freely magnifies what hath been nobly done, and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives ye the best cov'nant of his fidelity […]"
— 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
"Having already described him [the whale] in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archæological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view."
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Fossil Whale”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 506:
"But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal. This only magnified the indispensable nature of the oligopolists."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
"Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that."
— 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To see the tiny cells, the biologist used a lens that could ____ the image many times.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can use a magnifying glass to ____ the small text and make it much easier for you to read comfortably.