Wednesday, June 25, 2008

VOCABULARY WORD NO. 32

Today's Word "aggrandize"
aggrandize \uh-GRAN-dyz; AG-ruhn-dyz\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To make great or greater; to enlarge; to increase. 2 : To make great or greater in power, rank, reputation, or wealth; -- applied to persons, countries, etc. 3 : To make appear great or greater; to exalt. "He only wanted to aggrandize and enrich himself; and if Miss Woodhouse of Hartfield, the heiress of thirty thousand pounds, were not quite so easily obtained as he had fancied, he would soon try for Miss somebody else with twenty, or with ten." - Jane Austen, 'Emma' Aggrandize comes from French agrandir, from Old French, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + grandir, "to grow larger," from Latin grandire, from grandis, "large."

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