Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
HEIGHTEN
intensify, compound, heighten, deepen
(verb) make more intense, stronger, or more marked; “The efforts were intensified”; “Her rudeness intensified his dislike for her”; “Pot smokers claim it heightens their awareness”; “This event only deepened my convictions”
enhance, heighten, raise
(verb) increase; “This will enhance your enjoyment”; “heighten the tension”
sharpen, heighten
(verb) make (one’s senses) more acute; “This drug will sharpen your vision”
heighten
(verb) make more extreme; raise in quantity, degree, or intensity; “heightened interest”
heighten, rise
(verb) become more extreme; “The tension heightened”
heighten
(verb) increase the height of; “The athletes kept jumping over the steadily heightened bars”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
heighten (third-person singular simple present heightens, present participle heightening, simple past and past participle heightened)
To make high; to raise higher; to elevate.
To advance, increase, augment, make larger, more intense, stronger etc.
Source: Wiktionary
Height"en (hit"'n), v. t. [Written also highten.] [imp. & p. p. Heightened; p. pr. & vb. n. Heightening.]
1. To make high; to raise higher; to elevate.
2. To carry forward; to advance; to increase; to augment; to aggravate; to intensify; to render more conspicuous; -- used of things, good or bad; as, to heighten beauty; to heighten a flavor or a tint. "To heighten our confusion." Addison. An aspect of mystery which was easily heightened to the miraculous. Hawthorne.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
25 December 2024
UNAMBIGUOUS
(adjective) having or exhibiting a single clearly defined meaning; “As a horror, apartheid...is absolutely unambiguous”- Mario Vargas Llosa
Coffee Trivia
