Etymology
1. 1432, "to enlarge or expand," from M.Fr.
amplifier, from L.
amplificare "to enlarge," from
amplificus "splendid," from
amplus "large" + the root of
facere "make, do" (see factitious). Meaning "augment in volume or amount" is from 1580. Specific focus on sound seems to have emerged in the electronic age, c.1915, in ref. to radio technology. The electronic
amplifier first attested 1914; shortened form
amp is from 1967.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃-der.
4. Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃-lo-s
5. Proto-Italic *amlos?
6. Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-
7. Proto-Indo-European *-s
8. Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts?
9. Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder.
10. Proto-Italic *amβi-
11. Latin ambi-
12. Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-
13. Proto-Indo-European *-nós
14. Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós
15. Proto-Italic *plēnosder.
16. Latin plēnus?
17. Latin ambiplus?
18. Latin amplus
19. Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.
20. Proto-Italic *θakos
21. Proto-Italic *-fakos
22. Latin -ficus
23. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
24. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
25. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
26. Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
27. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
28. Proto-Italic *-ājō
29. Proto-Italic *-āō
30. Latin -ō
31. Latin -ficō
32. Latin amplificārebor.
33. Old French amplifierbor.
34. Middle English amplifiyen
35. English amplify
36. Inherited from Middle English amplifiyen, borrowed from Old French amplifier, borrowed from Latin amplificāre, from amplus (“abundant, ample”) + -ficō. By surface analysis, ample + -ify.
Verbs referencing "amplify"
Esperanto
amplifi.