Highten

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To increase the height of something or lift it upward, an archaic form of heighten
2. To raise something to a greater elevation or to make it rise higher above its surroundings
3. Making an object or surface go up in height, a term now rare and found mostly in older writing

Etymology: Hasten and hearten are familiar, but "highten" is the obsolete verb meaning to raise higher or lift up, built from "high" plus the verbal ending "-en" that English uses to form verbs from adjectives, as in "widen," "deepen," and "lengthen." It appeared in Middle English, and its root "high" traces to Old English "heah," which once meant lofty in both height and rank. The verb faded from common use centuries ago, though the same pattern survives in "heighten," which replaced it in later English.