amplificationn.
The action of amplifying, extending or enlarging.
1. Of things material: enlargement. Also concr. that which is added, or causes enlargement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun]
waxingc1055
increasec1374
dilatationc1400
larging?a1425
magnification?a1425
bredingc1440
ampliation1509
enlarginga1513
dilating1532
ampliating1541
amplification1546
amplifying1553
propagation1563
enlargement1564
widening1569
growth1587
dilation1598
expatiation1612
diduction1634
expansion1635
extendinga1649
dispansion1658
elargement1680
expatiating1708
explicating1730
aggrandizement1772
extension1839
expanse1860
aggrandization1929
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke vi. iii. 116 b, The preseruacion and amplificacion of fruictes, ordeyned for ye sustenaunce of man.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 560 This amplification or inlargement hapneth because al the spirits doe assemble themselues vnto the eye which is open.
1705 Col. Records Penn. II. 218 Allowing one penny per line for Emplyfications.
1764 T. Reid Inquiry Human Mind vi. 458 This amplification of the visible figure of a known object.
1830 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) I. 247 The reprinting and amplification of the ‘Catechism on the Corn Laws.’
2. Of things immaterial: augmentation in extent, importance, significance, etc. Also concr. an enlarged or extended representation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun]
waxingc1055
increasingc1340
increasec1374
echinga1382
creasing1398
augmentinga1400
alarginga1425
moringa1425
augmentc1425
incrementc1425
creasec1440
increasement1509
enlarginga1513
enlargement1564
amplification1569
accession1570
usury1576
enhancement1577
growth1587
creasement1592
accrease1598
crescence1602
improvement1607
excrement1608
majoration1626
heightening1629
auction1692
turgescence1806
outgrowth1837
steepening1868
prolating1919
upgrading1920
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun] > of immaterial things
amplification1569
1569 in Strype Ann. Reformation I. liii. 567 That his studies and labours..might be..to the glory of God, and the amplification of the whole University.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity A more full Amplification of his enormous Pride.
1687 Assur. Abby Lands 133 The Pope sent an Amplification of His Powers.
1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. vii. 282 To regard the dual as an amplification of the plural forms.
3. esp. Of words and phrases: extension of meaning. amplification of the predicate (Grammar), = extension or enlargement of the predicate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > [noun] > addition of meaning
amplification1551
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Liiiv, Those rules of restryctyons, amplyfycatyons and supposytyons, very wittelye inuented in the small Logycalles.
1578 T. Timme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Gen. 195 This saying [in this generation]..is added for Amplification.
1656 N. Hardy First Epist. John (1865) xxx. 185/2 An amplification of the proposition.
1870 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David I. Ps. xvi. 1. 217 The intercession recorded in John xvii is but an amplification of this cry.
4. Rhetoric. The extension of simple statement by all such devices as tend to increase its rhetorical effect, or to add importance to the things stated; making the most of a thought or circumstance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > amplification
dilatationc1386
dilating1532
amplification1553
dilate1595
dilation1623
periphrasis1657
magnificationa1834
enlarging1843
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 64 No one [figure] so muche helpeth forwarde an Oracion, and beautifieth the same with suche delitefull ornamentes as dooeth amplificacion.
1651 T. Hobbes Art of Rhetoric (1840) 438 An orator in praising, must also use the forms of amplification.
1727 Pope et al. Peri Bathous 36 in Swift et al. Misc.: Last Vol. Amplification..is the spinning Wheel of the Bathos, which draws out and spreads it in the finest Thread.
1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm viii. 191 Modern writers..have expatiated with disproportionate amplification upon the corruptions.
5. The particulars by which a statement is amplified or an account exaggerated; the amplified or exaggerated statement itself.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > amplification > an amplification or diffuse passage
amplification1567
periphrasis1579
dilatement1593
1567 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. 104 (R.) By sutche amplifications and outrage in speache, it would appeare, Christe were Peters vicare.
1605 Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. A3v, No amplification at all, but a positiue and measured truth.
1781 Johnson Pope in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VII. 161 The Essay [on Man] abounded in splendid amplifications.
1841 T. A. Trollope Summer W. France II. xxxiv. 166 To exercise the novices..in writing amplifications on the lives of the saints.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius i. 6 The story is given with amplifications by Plutarch.
6. Electr. The action of amplifying (see amplify v. 2b). Also attrib.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > processes > [noun] > increase in signal
amplification1915
magnification1934
conversion gain1935
1915 Year-Bk. Wireless Telegr. 665 Amplification (Magnification). The ratio of the useful effect obtained by the employment of the amplifier to the useful effect obtained without that instrument.
1919 J. A. Fleming Thermionic Valve vii. 249 Method..for Measuring the Amplification Factor.
1920 H. J. Van der Bijl Thermionic Vacuum Tube vii. 160 The constant μ..can therefore be referred to as the amplification constant.
1935 Discovery Sept. 278/2 Special valves are being developed suitable for direct signal amplification at the ultra-high frequencies.
1942 Electronic Engin. 15 127/3 Existing formulæ for the amplification factor of the three electrode valve..assume..that the distance between the grid and anode is large.
1943 Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 32 Amplification factor, the voltage factor of the anode and the control electrode, the anode current remaining unchanged.
1962 Newnes Encycl. Electr. Engin. 825/2 It [sc. the transistor] can be used..to give current or voltage amplification as desired.
Draft additions May 2001
Genetics. The production of additional or multiple copies of a gene or other nucleic acid sequence, as a natural or artificial process.
ΚΠ
1968 Nature 17 Feb. 649/1 (heading) Gene amplification in the oocyte nucleus of mutant and wild-type Xenopus laevis.
1983 B. Lewin Genes xxiii. 372/1 Circular extrachromosomal molecules of DNA each containing many repeating units are produced by amplification of the chromosomal repeating units.
1990 Mutagenesis 5 523/1 The polymerase chain reaction..allows the amplification of any piece of mutant DNA.
1997 New Scientist 29 Nov. 103/2 (advt.) Experience in immunoassays, gene amplification techniques and virology..is required.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1884; most recently modified version published online March 2011).
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