Augmentation

How to spell augmentation

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce augmentation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does augmentation mean?

1. nounThe act or process of making something larger, greater, or more substantial.

Augmentation in a sentence

• The budget proposal called for a steady augmentation of staff numbers.

• The clinic offers breast augmentation among its surgical services.

Where does augmentation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb augere, which meant 'to increase' or 'to make grow', the same root that gives us 'augment', 'auction' (originally a sale where the price grew), and even 'author' in the old sense of one who makes something flourish. From augere came the noun augmentum, meaning 'an increase' or 'a growth', and Late Latin formed augmentatio for the act of increasing. English picked the word up in the late 1300s through Old French augmentacion, keeping the spelling close to its Latin parent. The trap for spellers lies in the unstressed middle: the '-men-' is easy to slur, and the ending is the regular '-ation', not '-ition'. Remembering that it simply pairs the verb 'augment' with the familiar '-ation' suffix is the surest way to spell it correctly.

How the word is built

• augment- (from Latin augmentum: an increase)
• -ation (noun of action)