Increase

How to spell increase

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce increase

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does increase mean?

1. verbTo become or make greater in size, number, or degree.
2. nounA rise in the amount, size, or degree of something.

Increase in a sentence

• verb

  The council voted to increase parking charges next year.

• noun

  Staff were promised a modest pay increase in the spring.

• verb

  Regular exercise can increase your stamina over time.

• noun

  The report noted a steady increase in housing costs.

Where does increase come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb increscere, formed from the prefix in- meaning 'in' or 'upon' and crescere meaning 'to grow'. The same crescere root sits behind a whole family of growth words, including 'crescent' (the growing moon), 'crescendo' (a swelling of sound), and even 'recruit'. English took the word from Anglo-French encress and Old French encreistre during the 1300s, originally as a verb describing things becoming greater in number or size. The noun use, meaning the amount of growth itself, developed soon after. The spelling keeps the Latin -crease ending intact, which is why the word ends in -ease rather than the -eece sound it makes; remembering 'crescent' and 'grow' helps fix that final stretch.

How the word is built

• in- (in, into)
• -crease (from Latin crescere: to grow)