enrichv.
/ᵻnˈrɪtʃ/, /ɛnˈrɪtʃ/, U.S. /ᵻnˈrɪtʃ/, /ɛnˈrɪtʃ/ 1.
a. transitive. To make rich, wealthy, or opulent. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > accumulate wealth [verb (transitive)] > make rich
i-wealyOE
to bring (a person) in or to (his) warison1297
richc1350
increasec1380
enrich1382
enrichessec1430
make1460
enwealthy1594
divitiate?1623
munificate1623
felicitate1638
imburse1641
peculiate1656
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. xxx. 20 The Lord hath enrychide me with a good dower.
c1460 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (1714) 142 He hath than enryched his Corowne with such Riches and Possessions, as never Kyng schal may take from yt.
1530 Act 22 Hen. VIII c. 8 §1 Denizens..after they be so inriched..convey themselves, with their said Goods, to their own Country.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1846) I. 398 Nor yitt to enreache the Crowne..with your substance.
1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 61 Set all the poor in England at work, and much inrich the Country.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. ii. ii. 71 Many Men are enriched by all the forementioned ways of trade.
1838 R. W. Emerson Addr. Divinity Coll. 6 Thefts never enrich; alms never impoverish.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvii. 209 Enriching them in return with needles and beads.
b. reflexive and (rarely) intransitive for reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > make oneself rich [verb (reflexive)]
enrich1525
fat1567
the mind > possession > wealth > be rich [verb (intransitive)] > become rich
gather?c1225
richa1375
purchasec1387
increasea1425
enrich1525
to feather one's nest1583
to make a, one's fortune1596
to make one's fortunea1616
fatten1638
accumulate1747
to fill one's pipe1821
to shake the pagoda-tree1825
pyramid1926
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. xcii. [lxxxviii.] 273 Their desyre is euer to enryche and to haue all themselfe.
1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. B2 But & we beyng wery of pouertye woulde seke to enrych our selues, we shold go [etc.].
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 654 That they were able to enrich themselves by so odious a trade.
1880 B. Price in Fraser's Mag. May 677 Enabling industry to expand and enrich.
2. figurative. To make rich, endow, with mental or spiritual wealth.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > humanistic studies > improve the mind, cultivate [verb (transitive)]
till1393
enrich1502
refine1592
cultivate?1631
unblade1633
urbanize1642
smooth1644
culture1677
metropolitanize1870
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iv. sig. e.i Sacerdotales the whiche is as much to saye as enryched & ennobled with holy mysteryes.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxxviii. 240 Men especially enritcht with the gifts of the holy Ghost.
1604 Bk. Com. Prayer, For R. Family Enrich them with thy heauenly grace.
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 187 Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works!
1838 W. Wordsworth Sonn. to Planet Venus Are we aught enriched in love and meekness?
3.
a. To fill or store with wealth; to add to the valuable contents of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > accumulate wealth [verb (transitive)] > make rich > supply with treasure
enrich1578
treasure1609
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 41v Enriche thy cofers.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. iii. 135 Til twice fiue summers haue enricht our fields. View more context for this quotation
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 632 Italy..inriched with captaines, souldiers, and slaues.
1637 J. Milton Comus 18 All the fleecie wealth That doth enrich these downs.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho I. i. 6 The library..was enriched by a collection of the best books.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 347 Who is travelling to enrich the Zoological Museum.
b. figurative. To increase the wealth or copiousness of (a language); to add to, improve (a science, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)]
beetc975
betterOE
goodOE
sharpa1100
amendc1300
enhance1526
meliorate1542
embetter1568
endeara1586
enrich1598
meliorize1598
mend1603
sweeten1607
improve1617
to work up1641
ameliorate1653
solace1667
fine1683
ragout1749
to make something of1778
richen1795
transcendentalize1846
to tone up1847
to do something (also things) for (also to)1880
rich1912
to step up1920
uprate1965
up1968
nice1993
1598 F. Meres in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 21 The English tongue is mightily enriched.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 537 Hee alone did illustrate and inrich it [sculpture] as much, if not more, than all his predecessors.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. Pref. sig. C3v Without inriching his discourse with any real Experiment or Observation.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. I. 218 Chaucer has been accused of having enriched the language with the spoils of France.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 256 In that year [1679] our tongue was enriched with two words, Mob and Sham.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiv. 252 Richard Owen..has..enriched science with contributions of his own.
4. To make (the soil, etc.) rich in productive power; to fertilize.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)]
gooda1525
marl1528
plentify1555
fat1562
fatten1563
season1563
heart1573
manure1577
soil1593
hearten1594
remanure1598
enrich1601
teasel1610
battle1611
batten1612
bedung1649
sweeten1733
top-dress1733
top1856
side-dress1888
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. vi. 505 They have a great opinion of the same [Marle] that it mightily enricheth it [the ground] and maketh it more plentifull.
1622 Wither Sonn. in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 216 The hony, milky plaine, That is inricht by Jordan's watering.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. viii. 312 Substances, which in their use and decomposition must enrich the land.
5. To make ‘rich’ or splendid with decoration; often with added notion of costliness. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautify [verb (transitive)] > ornament
dightc1200
begoa1225
fay?c1225
rustc1275
duba1300
shrouda1300
adorna1325
flourishc1325
apparel1366
depaintc1374
dressa1375
raila1375
anorna1382
orna1382
honourc1390
paintc1390
pare1393
garnisha1400
mensk?a1400
apykec1400
hightlec1400
overfretc1440
exornc1450
embroider1460
repair1484
empare1490
ornate1490
bedo?a1500
purfle?a1500
glorify?1504
betrap1509
broider1509
deck?1521
likelya1522
to set forth1530
exornate1539
grace1548
adornate1550
fardc1550
gaud1554
pink1558
bedeck1559
tight1572
begaud1579
embellish1579
bepounce1582
parela1586
flower1587
ornify1590
illustrate1592
tinsel1594
formalize1595
adore1596
suborn1596
trapper1597
condecorate1599
diamondize1600
furnish1600
enrich1601
mense1602
prank1605
overgreen1609
crown1611
enjewel1611
broocha1616
varnish1641
ornament1650
array1652
bedub1657
bespangle1675
irradiate1717
gem1747
begem1749
redeck1771
blazon1813
aggrace1825
diamond1839
panoply1851
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 456 The Gaules..were wont to goe to the wars brauely set out and inriched with gold.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. ii. 30 The Hilt and Scabbard were Gold enriched with Diamonds.
1742 W. Collins Persian Eclogues iii. 15 While Ev'ning Dews enrich the glitt'ring Glade.
a1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches I. i. ii. 67 A lofty dome, the sides of which are enriched with agate.
6.
a. To make ‘richer’ in quality, flavour, colour, etc.; to heighten, enhance (excellences).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [verb (transitive)]
enrich1620
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (transitive)] > increase the intensity of
multiplya1398
sharpenc1450
heighten1523
height1528
strengthen1546
aggravate1549
enhance1559
intend1603
enrich1620
re-enforce1625
wheel1632
reinforce1660
support1691
richen1795
to give a weight to1796
intensify1817
exalt1850
intensate1856
to step up1920
to hot up1937
ramp1981
1620 F. Quarles Jonah in Divine Poems When heaven's bright favours shone upon my face, And prosper'd my affairs, inrich'd my joyes.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica i. ii. 11 The sugar cane,..requires..abundance of vegetable mould to inrich its sap.
1849 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 207 The green fern and purple heather have enriched the colouring since the spring.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 46 You take a wild-flower And plant it in a garden to enrich Its life and beauty.
b. To raise (gas) to a required calorific value by the admixture of another gas.
ΚΠ
1921 Chem. Abstr. 15 1070 The gas to be enriched enters through a pipe and..passes through an outlet provided with a metal grid.
1958 Times 2 June p. iii/2 This gas is then enriched to the declared calorific value by the automatic addition of neat refinery gas.
c. To increase the abundance of a specific isotope in (a material); occasionally, to increase the abundance of (a specific isotope).
ΚΠ
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes 130 Uranium which had already been partially enriched.
1949 Atomics Oct. 66 The O18 isotope of oyxgen is being enriched by a factor of 100 at Harwell by a thermal diffusion plant.
1970 Daily Tel. 13 Nov. 5/1 Russia has offered to enrich uranium for Sweden's boiling water reactors.
Derivatives
enˈriched adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adjective] > improved
ybetc1000
amendeda1382
bettered?1533
mended1548
well-improveda1643
improved1648
meliorated1657
enriched1691
ameliorated1788
stepped1933
uprated1967
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > [adjective] > richly ornamented
richc1275
ornate?1504
embossed1591
enriched1815
1691 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense (ed. 8) 64 Temperately enrich'd Water, (such as is impregnated with Neat and Sheeps-dung).
1815 T. Rickman in J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 158 The Tudor flower..forms a most beautiful enriched battlement.
1936 Physical Rev. 49 404 The enriched sample [of carbon] may be removed for analysis.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 136/2 Carburetted (or enriched) water-gas.
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes 22 Such proposed arrangements are usually called ‘enriched piles’.
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes 23 A chain reaction bomb in pure, or at least enriched, U-235 or plutonium.
1955 Ann. Reg. 1954 393 A full scale reactor to generate electricity..was to use slightly enriched uranium as fuel.
1957 Times 22 Aug. 4/4 Enriched uranium... Enriched nuclear fuel... Enriched fuel.
1970 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 5 Enriched uranium with a uranium-235 share of more than 20 per cent. is the material used in atomic bombs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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