Aestheticise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To enhance the appearance of something by adding artistic or decorative qualities
2. To improve an object's visual appeal by applying artistic elements or design
3. To transform or style something so that it has a more attractive or artful look

Etymology: "Aestheticise" is a plain formation: the adjective "aesthetic" with the verb-forming suffix "-ise" added to it. The adjective itself goes back to ancient Greek "aisthētikos", meaning "relating to perception by the senses", built from "aisthanesthai", "to perceive". That sense of sensory perception stayed close to the surface for centuries. Latin borrowed the word, and in the eighteenth century German scholars revived it to name the philosophy of beauty and art, so "aesthetic" came to mean "concerned with beauty" rather than "concerned with sensation". English took "aesthetic" in that later sense, and the verb followed from it. The suffix "-ise", which English inherited through Middle French from Late Latin "-izare", turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make or treat in a certain way". So "to aestheticise" is literally "to make something aesthetic", giving an ordinary object or scene the qualities of an artwork.

Synonyms: beautify, enhance, elevate

Antonyms: diminish, degrade