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augment

/ɔːɡˈment/·verb

to increase something by adding to it
Fig. 1 — The stream sets out modest — one lane of water, one drifting leaf.
01Definition

To augment is to make something greater by adding to it from outside: a salary augmented by weekend work, a library augmented by donations, a river augmented by every tributary that joins it. From Latin augere, 'to increase' — the root that also grew author and auction. The added-on logic is the word's whole character, and its modern flagship keeps it visible: augmented reality is the real scene with a layer of information laid on top.

02In use
  • iShe augments her salary with weekend translation work.
  • iiSnowmelt augments the river each spring, and every tributary adds its share.
  • iiiThe library augmented its collection with two private donations.
03Collocations
  • augment income
  • augmented by
  • augmented reality
  • augment the workforce
  • greatly augmented

Family augmentation (noun) · augmented (adjective)

04Relations

=supplement, boost, expand, amplify, enlarge

≠diminish, reduce, deplete

06TOEFL & IELTS

Formal and precise: what is augmented grows because something was ADDED — income by a side job, staff by new hires, data by interviews. That from-outside logic separates it from swell (growth from within) and expand (growth in extent), and 'augmented by' introduces the addition elegantly in academic prose: 'the survey, augmented by field interviews, shows...'. Augmented reality is the collocation examiners now expect candidates to recognise. Register check: augment your vocabulary, yes; augment your coffee, no — small everyday additions stay with 'add to'.

07Asked
What is the difference between augment and increase?
Increase is the plain, all-purpose verb: any amount, any cause, from within or without. Augment is formal and specific — it grows something by adding to an existing base, and the addition usually comes from outside. Sales increase; a salary is augmented by a bonus. If you can replace it with 'add to', augment fits; if the thing simply got bigger on its own, increase is the safer word.
What is the difference between augment and supplement?
Augment grows the thing itself; supplement adds a separate extra alongside it. Augment your income and the income is larger; take a supplement and a distinct pill joins your diet. In practice they overlap — you can augment or supplement a salary with freelance work — but supplement keeps the added part identifiable, while what augments a thing is absorbed into it, as a tributary is absorbed into a river.
Why is it called augmented reality?
Because a digital layer is added onto the real scene without replacing it — information laid over the world you can still see, exactly the word's from-outside logic. That is the line against virtual reality, which swaps the real world out for a made one. The scene above shows the same idea in water: each tributary adds to the river running past, and the river stays itself, only greater.
What does 'staff augmentation' mean?
A business term for adding outside people to an existing team rather than replacing it or hiring permanently — a company augments its staff with contract engineers for one project. The word is doing its exact work: the core team stays, external hands are added on, and everyone leaves when the extra capacity is no longer needed. Recognise it in workplace and IT reading; it is jargon, not essay English.
Is augment stressed on the first or second syllable?
As a verb, the second: awg-MENT, /ɔːɡˈment/, the first syllable sounding like 'awe', not 'ow'. The noun augmentation keeps the weight late too: awg-men-TAY-shun. And the adjective augmented (as in augmented reality) keeps the stress on the second syllable as well: aug-MEN-ted.