increase 
increase (in-kreV), v. ; pret. and pp. increased, 
ppr. increasing. [Formerly also increase; < 
ME. increasseii, incressen, incresen, encressen, 
encrescen, enercsen, < OF. *encreiser, encreistre, 
encrestre, encroistre, encricier = Pi. encreisser = 
It. increscere, < L. increscere, increase, < in, in, 
on, + crescere, grow : see crescent, crease 2 .] I. 
intrans. To become greater in any respect; be- 
come enlarged, extended, or multiplied; grow 
or advance in size, quantity, number, degree, 
etc. ; augment ; multiply ; wax, as the moon. 
Of been the swarmes nowe begynne encrese, 
Nowe in the hony combe is bredde the bee. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 155. 
The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one 
toward another. 1 Thes. iii. 12. 
The people also besprinkle the Bride with wheat, crying 
out, Increase and multiplie. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 214. 
While the stars burn, the moons increase, 
And the great ages onward roll. Tennyson, To J. 8. 
II. trans. To make greater in any respect ; 
enlarge or extend in bulk, quantity, number, 
degree, etc.; add to; enhance; aggravate: op- 
posed to diminish. 
Nothynge riles the! diden but ete and drinke, and en- 
creced her peple that assembled euery day. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 231. 
Hie thee from this slaughterhouse, 
Lest thou increase the number of the dead. 
Shak., Eich. III., IT. 1. 
I can never see one of those plays which are now writ- 
ten, but it increases my admiration of the ancients. 
Dryden, Essay on Dram. Poesy. 
This increases the difficulties tenfold. 
Jefferson, Correspondence, I. 286. 
increase (in'kres, formerly also in-kres'), n. 
[< ME. encres, encrese, encresse, < OF. (AF.) 
encresse, encrece, encreas, increase; from the 
verb.] 1 . A growing larger, as in size, number, 
quantity, degree, etc.; augmentation; enlarge- 
ment; extension; multiplication. 
Dear goddess, hear t 
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend 
To make this creature fruitful 1 ... 
Dry up in her the organs of increase. 
Shak., Lear, i. 4. 
God made the woman for the use of man, 
And for the good and increase of the world. 
Tennyson, Edwin Morris. 
2. The amount or number added to the origi- 
nal stock, or by which the original stock is aug- 
mented; increment; profit; interest; produce; 
issue; offspring. 
Take thou no usury of him, or increase. Lev. xxv. 36. 
All the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of 
their age. 1 Sam. ii. 33. 
Beyond Boanoak are many Isles full of fruits and other 
Naturall increases. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, 1. 85. 
3. In astron., the period of increasing light or 
an increasing luminous phase ; the waxing, as 
of the moon. 
Seeds, hair, nails, hedges, and herbs will grow soonest, 
if set or cut in the increase of the moon. Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
Imperceptible Increase. See imperceptible. = syn, 1 
and 2. Enlargement, growth, addition, accession, expan- 
sion. 
increasefult (in-kres'ful), a. [< increase, n., + 
-fill.} Full of increase ; abundantly productive. 
To cheer the ploughman with increaseful crops. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 958. 
increasementt (in-kres'ment), n. [< increase + 
-ment.} Increase ; aggrandizement. 
Then it is worthy the consideration, how this may im- 
port England in the increasement of the greatnesse of 
France, by the addition of such a countrey. 
Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII., p. 66. 
increaser (in-kre'ser), . One who or that 
which increases. 
The medicine being the increaser of the disease, as when 
flre is quenched with oile. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 325. 
Craven's traction-ijwrawer . . . has lately been tried 
on the New York, Lake Erie, and Western. 
The Engineer, LXV. 425. 
increase-twist (in'kres-twist), . In firearms 
and ordnance, a system of rifling in which the 
twist or inclination of the spiral grooves to the 
axis of the bore increases from the breech to 
the muzzle. See twist.' 
increasingly (in-kre'sing-li), adv. In an in- 
creasing manner; growingly: as, increasingly 
uncomfortable. 
increate (in'kre-at), a. [ME. increate; = F. 
incree Sp. Pg. increado = It. increato ; < L. 
ire- priv. + creatus, created: see create.] Not 
created; uncreated. [Poetical.] 
Myn owen sone with me increate 
Schalle doun be sente to be incarnate. Lydgate. 
Since God is light, 
And never but in unapproached light 
Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, 
Bright effluence of bright essence increate. 
Milton, P. L., iii. o. 
3048 
increatedt (in-kre-a'ted), (i. Same as increate. 
The nnexpressible notions rising out of a fruitive con- 
templation of the increated verity. 
W. Montague, Devoute Essays, I. xxi. 1. 
incredibile dictu (in-kre-dib'i-le dik'tu). [L. : 
incredibile, neut. of incredibilis, incredible ; dic- 
tu, abl. supine of dicere, say : see diction.} In- 
credible to relate ; strange to say. 
incredibility (in-kred-i-bil'i-ti), n. ; pi. incredi- 
bilities (-tiz). [= F. ineredibilite = Sp. incrc- 
dibilidad = Pg. incredibilidade = It. inereiUbi- 
lita, < LL. incredibilita(t-)s, incredibility, incre- 
dulity, < L. incredibilis, incredible : see incredi- 
ble.} 1. The quality of being incredible or be- 
yond belief. 
For objects of incredibility, none are so removed from 
all appearance of truth as those of Corneille's Andromede. 
Dryden. 
2. That which is incredible. 
Heat his mind with incredibilities. Johnson. 
incredible (in-kred'i-bl), a. [= OF. incredible 
(also vernacularly increable, F. incroyable) = 
Sp. increible = Pg. incredivel, increivel, incrivel 
= It. incredibile, < L. incredibilis, not to be be- 
lieved, < in- priv. + credibilis, to be believed : 
see credible.} 1. Not credible; that cannot be 
credited ; surpassing the possibility of belief. 
Which might amaze the beholders, and seeme incredible 
to the hearers. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 298. 
Is it incredible, or can it seem 
A dream to any, except those that dream, 
That man should love his Maker? 
Cowper, Conversation. 
An oak growing in the sea, and a sea-weed on the top of 
a hill, are incredible combinations. 
H. Spencer, Prin. of BioL, 27. 
2. Surpassing belief as to what is possible ; 
hard to believe ; unimaginable ; inconceivable. 
In Asia there is no Beer drank at all, but Water, Wine, 
and an incredible variety of other Drinks. 
Howell, Letters, 11. 54. 
incredibleness (in-kred'i-bl-nes), n. Incredi- 
bility. 
The very strangeness, or incrediblenegs, of the story. 
Caxaubon, Credulity and Incredulity (1668), p. 180. 
incredibly (in-kred'i-bli), adv. 1. In an in- 
credible manner; in a manner to preclude be- 
lief. 2. Beyond prior belief or conception; un- 
imaginably; inconceivably. 
The arts are incredibly improved. 
Hakewill, Apology, p. 245. 
increditablet (in-kred'i-ta-bl), a. [< jn-3 + 
creditable.} Discreditable. 
Hypocrisy and dissimulation are always incrediiaUe, but 
in matters of religion monstrous. 
Gentleman Instructed, p. 145. 
increditedt (in-kred'i-ted), a. [< in- s + credit- 
ed.} Discredited; disbelieved. 
He [Hazael] was brought to this Belf-incredited mischief ; 
as impossible as at first he judged it, at last he performed 
it Rev. T. Adams, Works, II. 354. 
incredulity (in-kre-du'li-ti), n. [= OF. encre- 
dulitet, F. incredulite = Pr. incredulitat = Sp. 
incredulidad = Pg. incredulidade = It. incredu- 
lita, < L. incredulita(t-)s, unbelief, < incredulus, 
unbelieving: see incredulous.} The quality of 
being incredulous or indisposed to believe ; a 
withholding or refusal of belief; skepticism; 
unbelief. 
Of every species of incredulity, religious unbelief is infi- 
nitely the most irrational Buckminster. 
The human mind not infrequently passes from one ex- 
treme to another ; from one of implicit faith to one of ab- 
solute incredulity. Story, Speech, Cambridge, Aug. 31, 1826. 
= Syn. Disbelief, distrust, doubt. 
incredulous (in-kred'u-lus), a. [= F. incredule 
Sp. Pg. It. increduio, < L. incredulus, unbe- 
lieving, unbelievable, < in- priv. + credulus, 'be- 
lieving: see credulous.} 1. Not credulous ; not 
disposed to admit the truth of what is related ; 
not {jiven to believe readily; refusing or with- 
holding belief ; skeptical. 
These [witnesses] may be so qualified as to their ability 
and fidelity that a man must be a fantastical incredulous. 
fool to make any doubt of them. 
Bp. WUkins, Natural Religion, i. 1. 
" I am the man." At which the woman gave 
A hall-incredulous, half-hysterical cry. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
2f. Not easy to be believed; incredible. 
No dram of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no obsta- 
cle, no incredulous or unsafe circumstance. 
Shak., T. N., iii. 4. 
incredulously (in-kred'u-lus-li), adv. In an 
incredulous manner ; with incredulity. 
incredulousness (in-kred'u-lus-nes), n. Incre- 
dulity. 
incremablet (in-krem'a-bl), a. [< OF. incrcma- 
bli; < LL. as if "incremabilis, < I'M- priv. + cre- 
mabilis, combustible, < L. cremare, burn: see 
increscent 
cremate.} Incapable of being burned; incom- 
bustible. 
Incombustible sheets made with a texture of asbestos, 
increviable flax, or salamander's wool. 
Sir T. Broume, Urn-burial, iii. 
incremate (in-kre'mat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
incremated, ppr. incremating. [< LL. as if *in- 
crematus, pp. of "incremare, < L. jit, in, + cre- 
mare, burn, cremate: see cremate,} To cremate. 
incremation (iu-kre-ma'shon), n. [< LL. as if 
*incrematio(n-), < "incremare, burn: see incre- 
mate.} The act of burning or of consuming by 
fire, as a dead body ; cremation. 
Not very long after we passed those incremations I was 
seated in the drawing-room of the Bengal Club, with mir- 
rors and lights. W. II. Russell, Diary in India, I. 126. 
increment (in'kre-ment), n. [= F. increment 
= Sp. Pg. It. increinento, < L. incrementum, 
growth, increase, < increscere, increase : see in- 
crease.} 1. The act or process of increasing; 
a growing or swelling in bulk, quantity, num- 
ber, value, or amount; augmentation. 
Divers conceptions there are concerning its [the Nile's] 
increment or inundation. Sir T. Broume, Vulg. Err., vi. 8. 
Faith in every of its stages, at its first beginning, at its 
increment, at its greatest perfection, is a duty made up of 
the concurrence of the will and the understanding. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 146. 
2. Something added ; an increase or augmenta- 
tion; specifically, in math., the excess (positive 
or negative) of the value which a function would 
have if its independent variable were increased 
by any amount, especially by unity, over the 
value which it has for any particular value of 
the variable ; the difference of a function ; also, 
an arbitrary supposed increase of an indepen- 
dent variable. 
Here heaps of gold, there increments of honours. 
Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 1. 
All scale-readings begin at zero, and extend by practi- 
cally uniform increments to the maximum reading. 
Science, XIII. 99. 
3. In rhet., a species of amplification which con- 
sists in magnifying the importance of a subject 
(person or thing) by stating or implying that it 
has no superior, or that the greatest of all others 
is inferior to it : as, Thou hast slain thy mother. 
What more can I sayf Thou hast slain thy 
mother. 4. In Latin grant., a syllable in an- 
other form of a word additional to the number 
of syllables in the nominative singular of a 
noun, adjective, etc., or the second person sin- 
gular of the present indicative active of a verb. 
The increment nearest the beginning of the word is called 
the first, and those succeeding it are the second and third 
respectively, the last syllable not being counted. Thus in 
i-i(*-2n-3n-6sfrom i-ter, au-idi-Zms-Sse-tiatromau-di-o, 
au-dis, the increments are numbered as indicated. 
5. In her., the state of the moon when crescent : 
as, the moon in her increment. Method of Incre- 
ments, the calculus of finite differences, especially that 
part which treats of the differences and sums of different 
forms of functions. 
incremental (in-kre-men'tal), a. [< increment 
+ -al.} Pertaining'to or in the nature of incre- 
ment or increase. 
The exclusion of therule of "subtraction " and the sub- 
stitution of what the writer calls "incremental or com- 
plementary addition." Nature, XXXIII. 29. 
incrementation!, . [WE. incrementation, <ML. 
incrementatio(n-), increase, <L. incrementum, in- 
crease: see increment.} Increase; growth. 
In Marche and September putacion 
To chastens is incrementation. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 217. 
increpatet (in'kre-pat), v. t. [< L. increpatns, 
pp. of increpare () It. increpare = Sp. Pg. incre- 
par = OF. increper, encreper), make a noise, 
exclaim against, < in, on, + crepare, make a 
noise: see crepitate.} To chide; rebuke. 
increpationt (in-kre-pa'shon), n. [= OF. in- 
crepation = Sp. increpacion = Pg. increpafao = 
It. increpazione, < LL. increpatio(n-), a chiding, 
< L. increpare, exclaim against, chide : see in- 
crepate.} A chiding or rebuking ; censure. 
God was angry ; but yet ... it was but such an anger 
as ended in an instruction rather than in an increpation. 
Donne, Sermons, v. 
When they desired to know the time 
of his restoring their kingdom, . . . his 
answer was a kinde of soft increpation to 
them, and a strong instruction to all 
times. 
If. Montague, Devonte Essays, I. xvi. 6. 
increscent (in-kres'ent), a. [< 
L. i>!cr<:Kcen(t-)s, ppr" of incres- 
cere, increase : see increase.} In- 
creasing; growing; augmenting; 
swelling: specifically applied to 
the moon. 
Between the increscent and decrescent moon. 
Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette. 
Heraldic repre- 
sentation of the 
moon increscent, 
or crescent incres- 
cent. 
