aggrandizement
noun/əˈɡrændɪzmənt/
/əˈɡrændɪzmənt/
(British English also aggrandisement)
[uncountable] (formal, disapproving)- an increase in the power or importance of a person or country
- Her sole aim is personal aggrandizement.
- He was a strong and greedy monarch who pursued a course of military aggrandizement from the beginning of his reign.
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the general sense ‘increase, magnify’): from French agrandiss-, lengthened stem of agrandir, probably from Italian aggrandire, from Latin grandis ‘large’. The ending was changed by association with verbs ending in -ize + -ment.Definitions on the go
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aggrandizement