different between embiggen vs biggen

English

Etymology

From em- +? biggen or em- +? big +? -en, possibly analogous to belittle. The morphology parallels that of enlarge (en- + large).

The verb's first recorded use is in an 1884 edition of the British journal Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc. by C. A. Ward (see quotation below).

The word’s current popularity follows its deployment as an intentionally ungainly form by television writer David X. Cohen for The Simpsons episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” in 1996.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m?b???n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m?b???n/

Verb

embiggen (third-person singular simple present embiggens, present participle embiggening, simple past and past participle embiggened)

1. (nonstandard, now humorous, transitive) To enlarge; to make bigger.

   Synonyms: swell, aggrandize, bigger, enlarge

   Antonyms: ensmallen, debigulate, shrink, diminish, belittle

2. (nonstandard, humorous, intransitive) To enlarge or grow; to become bigger.

   Synonyms: swell, grow

   Antonyms: shrink, contract, diminish

Translations

See also

• cromulent

References

English

Etymology 1

From big +? -en. More at big.

Verb

biggen (third-person singular simple present biggens, present participle biggening, simple past and past participle biggened)

1. (rare, obsolete) To make bigger

Related terms

• embiggen

Etymology 2

Verb

biggen

1. Pronunciation spelling of begin.

Anagrams

• beggin'

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

biggen

1. Plural form of big

Anagrams

• beging

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Norse byggja.

Alternative forms

• beggen, buggen

Verb

biggen

1. build
   • a. 1450, John Lydgate:

     Thy place is bygged above the sterres clere

     Your house is built above the shining stars.

2. dwell

Derived terms

• bigger

References

• “biggen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Verb

biggen

1. Alternative form of bien

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /?pi????en/

Verb

b?ggen

1. first-person singular past indicative of bieggat

Scots

Verb

biggen

1. to be pregnant