[en-hans, -hahns] 
| 1. | to raise to a higher degree; intensify; magnify: The candelight enhanced her beauty. |
| 2. | to raise the value or price of: Rarity enhances the worth of old coins. |
| en·hance (ěn-hāns') tr.v. en·hanced, en·hanc·ing, en·hanc·es
[Middle English enhauncen, from Anglo-Norman enhauncer, variant of Old French enhaucier, from Vulgar Latin *inaltiāre, from Late Latin inaltāre : Latin in-, causative pref.; see en-1 + Latin altus, high; see al-2 in Indo-European roots.] en·hance'ment n., en·hanc'er n., en·hanc'ive adj. |
enhancement
1. A change to a product which is intended to make it better in some way, e.g. new functions, faster, or occasionally more compatible with other systems. Enhancements to hardware components, especially integrated circuits often mean they are smaller and less demanding of resources. Sadly, this is almost never true of software enhancements.
2. Marketroid-speak for a bug fix. This abuse of language is a popular and time-tested way to turn incompetence into increased revenue. A hacker being ironic would instead call the fix a feature, or perhaps save some effort by declaring "That's not a bug, that's a feature!".
[The Jargon File]
(1998-04-04)