Made something appear larger or more important than it actually is, either literally with a lens or figuratively by exaggerating.
From Latin 'magnus' meaning 'great' and 'facere' meaning 'to make,' combining to mean 'to make great.' The word entered English in the 14th century and applies both to optical enlargement and emotional exaggeration.
When you magnify something under a microscope, you're not just making it bigger—you're revealing an entirely different world that's always been there. Ancient scientists were blown away discovering that a tiny drop of pond water contained thousands of living creatures invisible to the naked eye!
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