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Today it means

exaggerate

to represent as greater than it is

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Where does the word "exaggerate" come from? It comes from Latin exaggerare, and was adopted directly into English (1530s).

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Where does the word "exaggerate" come from? It comes from Latin exaggerare, and was adopted directly into English (1530s).

Exaggerate’s story begins in Latin: exaggerare meant “to heap up.” 'ex-' plus 'agger', heap. It reached English by 1530s as exaggerate. The sense 'overstate' dates from the 1560s. Today, exaggerate means to represent as greater than it is.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient exaggerare "to heap up", 'ex-' plus 'agger', heap.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1530s exaggerate "to heap up", the sense 'overstate' dates from the 1560s.

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