verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To endow with power. transitive
2. 2
   increase the effect of or act synergistically with (a drug or a physiological or biochemical phenomenon) wordnet
3. 3
   To enhance. transitive
4. 4
   To increase the potency (of a drug or biochemical agent). transitive

   "These antidepressants potentiate the analgesic action of opiates."

Example

More examples

"These antidepressants potentiate the analgesic action of opiates."

Etymology

From potent + -i- + -ate (verb-forming suffix), modelled after German potenzieren.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.