Other forms: magnified, magnifying, magnifies
To magnify is to make something look larger than it is. A magnifying glass, magnify ten times, magnify the problem.
The power is written with a multiplication sign, so ten times means the object appears ten times wider. Figuratively, to magnify a difficulty is to make it seem worse. The Magnificat takes its name from the same Latin verb, meaning to make great.
1verbmagnifyTo make something look larger than it is.
“The lens magnifies the tiny print so that my grandfather can read it.”
magnify is an enlarging.
Latin magnificare means to make great, from magnus, great, plus facere, to make.
Latin
magnificō
Middle French
magnifier
Middle English
magnifien
English, today
magnify
From Middle English magnifien, from Middle French magnifier, from Latin magnificō. From Middle English magnifien, from Middle French magnifier, from Latin magnificō, from magnificus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA