Intensified

How to spell intensified

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce intensified

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does intensified mean?

1. verbMade or became stronger, greater, or more extreme in degree.

Intensified in a sentence

• The storm intensified overnight and ripped tiles from the roof.

• Competition between the two firms intensified once the cheaper rival opened nearby.

Where does intensified come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb intendere, meaning 'to stretch out' or 'to strain towards', formed from the prefix in- and tendere, which literally meant 'to stretch'. The past participle intensus gave English the adjective 'intense', describing something strained tight and therefore extreme in degree. In the early nineteenth century writers built the verb 'intensify' from 'intense' plus the productive suffix -ify, meaning 'to make'; the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is often credited with popularising it. 'Intensified' is simply the past tense and past participle, formed by changing the y to i before adding -ed, which is exactly the spelling step that trips writers up. The same tendere root stretches through many relatives, including 'tension', 'extend', and 'tendon', all carrying that core idea of pulling or straining.

How the word is built

• in- (intensive, from Latin intendere)
• tens (from Latin tendere: to stretch, strain)
• -ify (to make)
• -ed (past tense)