Verb

(en verb)

To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.

* {{quote-book, year=1985, author=William H. Tench, title=Safety is no accident

, passage=Regulations have been made under the Civil Aviation Acts of 1949, 1980 and 1982 which empower Inspectors of Accidents to do these things.}}

To give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.

It's not enough to give women and minorities equal rights on paper; they need to be empowered to be able to make use of these rights.

John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.

* {{quote-book, year=1992, author=Nick Logan, title=The Face, page=11-130

, passage=Musically, what originally attracted me to dance was its shamanist aspects, using natural magic to change people's neurological states and to psychologically empower them.}}

Verb

(enhanc)

(obsolete) To lift, raise up.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.i:

nought aghast, his mightie hand enhaunst : / The stroke down from her head vnto her shoulder glaunst.

(Wyclif Bible)

To augment or make something greater.

* Southey

The reputation of ferocity enhanced the value of their services, in making them feared as well as hated.

* 2000 , Mordecai Roshwald, Liberty: Its Meaning and Scope , page 155

A hereditary monarch relies on pomp and ceremony, which enhance the respect for the institution

To improve something by adding features.

* 1986 , Maggie Righetti, Knitting in Plain English , page 192

A pom-pom to top off a stocking cap, a fringe to feather the edge of a shawl, tassels to define the points of an afghan, these are just a few of the delightful little goodies that enhance handknit things.

To be raised up; to grow larger.

A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.