What does auxesis mean?
Auxesis is a comparatively rare word with two distinct technical meanings. In rhetoric and literary criticism, it names a figure of speech — a form of hyperbole — in which a thing is deliberately magnified or amplified beyond its actual scale, as when a minor setback is described as a total disaster. The device has been catalogued since classical times as one means of heightening expression for persuasive or comic effect. Separately, in biology, auxesis refers to growth achieved by the enlargement of existing cells rather than by the multiplication of new ones, an important process in the development of plants and other organisms. Both senses derive from the same Greek root, auxein, meaning 'to grow' or 'to increase', which unites the rhetorical swelling of language with the literal swelling of living tissue. The word belongs to formal, specialist registers: readers will encounter it most often in discussions of rhetoric, poetry, and botany rather than in everyday conversation, where simpler terms such as exaggeration suffice.
nounIn rhetoric, auxesis is a form of hyperbole in which something is deliberately magnified or amplified beyond its true proportions. In biology, it denotes growth by cell enlargement rather than by cell division.
- A rhetorical figure of hyperbole in which something is magnified or exaggerated.
- Growth of an organism or part by increase in cell size rather than cell number (biology).
"The coach's claim that this was 'the greatest comeback in the history of sport' was pure auxesis."
"Calling the spilled coffee a 'catastrophe' was a classic piece of auxesis."
"In plant stems, auxesis drives expansion as individual cells enlarge after division ceases."
The plural follows standard English -is → -es formation, as with analyses or bases.
"Both speeches relied on audacious auxeses to stir the crowd."
The same Greek root that gives us 'auxesis' also gives us the plant hormone 'auxin' — one word grew out of it literally.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of auxesis
Auxesis comes from the ancient Greek auxēsis, meaning 'growth' or 'increase', formed from the verb auxein, 'to grow, to increase'. The word entered English scholarly vocabulary in the sixteenth century, when Renaissance rhetoricians were reviving and codifying the figures of classical Greek and Roman rhetoric. Its cognates from the same Greek root include auxin, the plant-growth hormone named in the twentieth century, and auxiliary, which reached English via Latin.
Usage notes
Rare and technical; used mainly in rhetoric and literary criticism, and in biological contexts. Formal register throughout.
Don't confuse with
Anabasis is a different rhetorical device involving a step-by-step intensifying series, whereas auxesis is the broader magnifying of a single statement.