Verb

To praise, glorify (someone or something, especially god).

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts X:

For they herde them speake with tonges, and magnify God.

* 1644 , (John Milton), (Aeropagitica) :

For he who freely magnifies what hath been nobly done, and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives ye the best cov'nant of his fidelity [...].

To make (something) larger or more important.

* Grew

The least error in a small quantitybe proportionately magnified .

* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black), title=Internal Combustion

, chapter=2 citation , passage=But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal. This only magnified the indispensable nature of the oligopolists.}}

To make (someone or something) appear greater or more important than it is; to intensify, exaggerate.

To make (something) appear larger by means of a lens, magnifying glass, telescope etc.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.}}

(intransitive, slang, obsolete) To have effect; to be of importance or significance.

(Spectator)