Enhance vs. Develop: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on October 10, 2023
Enhance refers to improving existing qualities, while Develop means to bring into existence or to evolve.
Key Differences
Enhance and Develop are both verbs used in the English language but signify different actions. While "Enhance" primarily means to augment or amplify the quality, value, or extent of something, "Develop" connotes the action of growing, evolving, or bringing something into existence. The former emphasizes improvement, while the latter underscores evolution or creation.
Enhance suggests making something better or superior. If an individual has a skill, enhancing it would mean honing or refining it further. On the other hand, Develop means to start from a rudimentary stage and bring it to maturity or completion. If someone doesn't have a skill, they would seek to develop it, starting from scratch and growing it over time.
When we talk about photographs, to Enhance would mean to adjust or modify certain elements to make the image clearer or more striking. However, to Develop a photograph (especially in the traditional sense) means to process a film to produce a visible image.
In a business context, to Enhance a product might mean to add features or improve its design. In contrast, to Develop a product means to go through the design, testing, and production phases, starting from an idea and culminating in the final product.
Finally, Enhance is about making the existing better, giving it an edge or a boost. Meanwhile, Develop is about progression, evolution, and transformation, turning potential into reality.
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Comparison Chart
Focus
Improvement of existing qualities
Creation or evolution
Starting Point
Pre-existing item or quality
Initial or rudimentary stage
In Context of Skills
Refining or improving a known skill
Acquiring or cultivating a new skill
In Technology
Boosting or amplifying features of existing tech
Building new tech from ground up
In Photography
Adjusting elements to improve the image
Processing film to produce a visible image
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Enhance and Develop Definitions
Enhance
To improve the quality or value of something.
Bright lighting can enhance the ambiance of a room.
Develop
To start to exist, experience, or possess.
He began to develop feelings for her.
Enhance
To elevate or boost something's effectiveness or performance.
Regular training can enhance an athlete's performance.
Develop
To bring from latency to or toward fulfillment
An instructor who develops the capabilities of each student.
Enhance
To improve or augment, especially in effectiveness, value, or attractiveness
Exercises that enhance cardiovascular health.
Spices that enhance the flavor of a sauce.
Renovations that enhance the neighborhood.
Develop
To expand or enlarge
Developed a national corporation into a worldwide business.
Enhance
(obsolete) To lift, raise up.
Develop
To aid in the growth of; strengthen
Exercises that develop muscles.
Enhance
To augment or make something greater.
Develop
To improve the quality of; refine
Develops his recipes to perfection.
An extra year of study to develop virtuosic technique.
Enhance
To improve something by adding features.
Develop
To cause to become more complex or intricate; add detail and fullness to; elaborate
Began with a good premise but developed it without imagination.
Enhance
(intransitive) To be raised up; to grow larger.
A debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.
Develop
(Music) To elaborate (a theme) with rhythmic and harmonic variations.
Enhance
(radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).
Develop
To bring into being gradually
Develop a new cottage industry.
Enhance
To raise or lift up; to exalt.
Who, naught aghast, his mighty hand enhanced.
Develop
To set forth or clarify by degrees
Developed her thesis in a series of articles.
Enhance
To advance; to augment; to increase; to heighten; to make more costly or attractive; as, to enhance the price of commodities; to enhance beauty or kindness; hence, also, to render more heinous; to aggravate; as, to enhance crime.
The reputation of ferocity enhanced the value of their services, in making them feared as well as hated.
Develop
To come to have gradually; acquire
Develop a taste for opera.
Develop a friendship.
Enhance
To be raised up; to grow larger; as, a debt enhances rapidly by compound interest.
Develop
To become affected with; contract
Developed a rash.
Developed agoraphobia.
Enhance
Increase;
This will enhance your enjoyment
Heighten the tension
Develop
To influence the behavior of toward a specific end
An investigator who develops witnesses through flattery and intimidation.
Enhance
Make better or more attractive;
This sauce will enhance the flavor of the meat
Develop
To cause (a tract of land or a building) to serve a particular purpose
Developed the site as a community of condominiums.
Enhance
To intensify or increase certain features or attributes.
Makeup can enhance one's natural beauty.
Develop
To make available and effective to fulfill a particular end or need
Develop the state's water resources to serve a growing population.
Enhance
To magnify or make more noticeable.
The spices enhance the flavor of the dish.
Develop
To convert or transform
Developed the play into a movie.
Enhance
To augment or add to something in a beneficial way.
Digital tools can enhance the learning experience.
Develop
(Games) To move (a chess piece) to or toward a more strategic position.
Develop
To process (a photosensitive medium such as exposed film) in order to produce a photographic image.
Develop
To produce (a photographic image) by use of a photosensitive medium or by printing from a digital file.
Develop
To grow by degrees into a more advanced or mature state
With hard work, she developed into a great writer.
Develop
To increase or expand
Sales developed until we needed a bigger warehouse.
Develop
To improve; advance
Their skill developed until it rivaled their teacher's.
Develop
To come gradually into existence or activity
Tension developed between students and faculty.
Develop
To come gradually to light; be disclosed
Reports the news as it develops.
Develop
To progress from earlier to later stages of a life cycle
Caterpillars develop into butterflies.
Develop
To progress from earlier to later stages of evolution
Mammals developed during the Mesozoic Era.
Develop
To acquire secondary sex characteristics. Used especially of a girl.
Develop
To discover, find out; to uncover.
Develop
(intransitive) To change with a specific direction, progress.
Let's see how things develop and then make our decision.
Develop
(ambitransitive) To progress through a sequence of stages.
Isabel developed from a tropical depression to a tropical storm to a hurricane.
An embryo develops into a fetus and then into an infant.
Develop
(transitive) To advance; to further; to promote the growth of.
Develop
(transitive) To create.
I need to develop a plan for the next three weeks.
Develop
(transitive) To bring out images latent in photographic film.
Please develop this roll of film.
Develop
(transitive) To acquire something usually over a period of time.
I have been in England enough to develop a British accent.
You will develop calluses if you play the cello.
She developed bad eating habits.
Develop
To place one's pieces actively.
I need to develop my white-square bishop.
Develop
To cause a ball to become more open and available to be played on later. Usually by moving it away from the cushion, or by opening a pack.
Develop
(math) To change the form of (an algebraic expression, etc.) by executing certain indicated operations without changing the value.
Develop
To free from that which infolds or envelops; to unfold; to lay open by degrees or in detail; to make visible or known; to disclose; to produce or give forth; as, to develop theories; a motor that develops 100 horse power.
These serve to develop its tenets.
The 20th was spent in strengthening our position and developing the line of the enemy.
Develop
To unfold gradually, as a flower from a bud; hence, to bring through a succession of states or stages, each of which is preparatory to the next; to form or expand by a process of growth; to cause to change gradually from an embryo, or a lower state, to a higher state or form of being; as, sunshine and rain develop the bud into a flower; to develop the mind.
The sound developed itself into a real compound.
All insects . . . acquire the jointed legs before the wings are fully developed.
Develop
To advance; to further; to prefect; to make to increase; to promote the growth of.
We must develop our own resources to the utmost.
Develop
To change the form of, as of an algebraic expression, by executing certain indicated operations without changing the value.
Develop
To cause to become visible, as an invisible or latent image upon plate, by submitting it to chemical agents; to bring to view.
Develop
To go through a process of natural evolution or growth, by successive changes from a less perfect to a more perfect or more highly organized state; to advance from a simpler form of existence to one more complex either in structure or function; as, a blossom develops from a bud; the seed develops into a plant; the embryo develops into a well-formed animal; the mind develops year by year.
Nor poets enough to understandThat life develops from within.
Develop
To become apparent gradually; as, a picture on sensitive paper develops on the application of heat; the plans of the conspirators develop.
Develop
Make something new, such as a product or a mental or artistic creation;
Her company developed a new kind of building material that withstands all kinds of weather
They developed a new technique
Develop
Work out;
We have developed a new theory of evolution
Develop
Gain through experience;
I acquired a strong aversion to television
Children must develop a sense of right and wrong
Dave developed leadership qualities in his new position
Develop a passion for painting
Develop
Come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes);
He grew a beard
The patient developed abdominal pains
I got funny spots all over my body
Well-developed breasts
Develop
Come into existence; take on form or shape;
A new religious movement originated in that country
A love that sprang up from friendship
The idea for the book grew out of a short story
An interesting phenomenon uprose
Develop
Change the use of and make available or usable;
Develop land
The country developed its natural resources
The remote areas of the country were gradually built up
Develop
Elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses;
Could you develop the ideas in your thesis
Develop
Create by training and teaching;
The old master is training world-class violinists
We develop the leaders for the future
Develop
Be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest;
The plot developed slowly
Develop
Grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment;
A flower developed on the branch
The country developed into a mighty superpower
The embryo develops into a fetus
This situation has developed over a long time
Develop
Become technologically advanced;
Many countries in Asia are now developing at a very fast pace
Viet Nam is modernizing rapidly
Develop
Cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development;
The perfect climate here develops the grain
He developed a new kind of apple
Develop
Generate gradually;
We must develop more potential customers
Develop a market for the new mobile phone
Develop
Grow emotionally or mature;
The child developed beautifully in her new kindergarten
When he spent a summer at camp, the boy grew noticeably and no longer showed some of his old adolescent behavior
Develop
Make visible by means of chemical solutions;
Please develop this roll of film for me
Develop
Superimpose a three-dimensional surface on a plane without stretching, in geometry
Develop
Move one's pieces into strategically more advantageous positions;
Spassky developed quickly
Develop
Move into a strategically more advantageous position;
Develop the rook
Develop
Elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme;
Develop the melody and change the key
Develop
Happen;
Report the news as it develops
These political movements recrudesce from time to time
Develop
Expand in the form of a series;
Develop the function in the following form
Develop
To grow or cause to grow and become mature or advanced.
Children develop rapidly during the first five years of life.
Develop
To design, create, or establish something.
The company plans to develop a new line of laptops.
Develop
To expand or elaborate a theory, story, or idea.
The writer took years to develop the plot of his novel.
Develop
To process film to produce a visible image.
I can't wait to develop the photos from our trip.
FAQs
How does Enhance differ from Develop in the context of skills?
Enhance means to refine or improve a known skill, while Develop means to acquire or cultivate a new skill.
Can Develop mean to design or create?
Yes, to Develop can mean to design, create, or establish something.
How is the term Enhance used in the context of technology?
In technology, Enhance means to boost or amplify features of existing technology.
In what contexts might one use the term Develop?
Develop can be used in contexts like growth, creation, design, evolution, and film processing.
What's the opposite of Enhance?
The opposite of Enhance could be diminish or degrade.
Is Enhance always about improving something that already exists?
Typically, yes. Enhance usually refers to improving or amplifying pre-existing qualities.
Does Enhance imply a positive change?
Generally, yes. Enhance typically indicates a beneficial improvement or augmentation.
What's the primary meaning of Enhance?
Enhance primarily means to improve or augment the quality, value, or extent of something.
In photography, what does it mean to Develop a photo?
To Develop a photo means to process film to produce a visible image.
How does Enhance relate to magnifying or intensifying?
Enhance can mean to magnify or make certain features or attributes more noticeable.
Can something be both enhanced and developed at different stages?
Yes, something can initially be developed and later be enhanced to improve it further.
Can the term Enhance be used in a culinary context?
Yes, in cooking, Enhance can refer to intensifying or improving flavors.
How does the term Enhance relate to addition?
Enhance can mean to augment or add to something in a beneficial way.
What might be the opposite of Develop in the context of growth?
In the context of growth, the opposite of Develop might be regress or deteriorate.
Is to Develop always about positive growth?
Not necessarily. While Develop often implies progression, it doesn't always denote positive growth.
Does Develop always indicate the beginning of a process?
Not always, but Develop often suggests a progression from an initial stage to maturity.
Can Develop be used in a storytelling context?
Yes, in storytelling, to Develop means to expand or elaborate on a story or character.
Can you Develop an idea?
Yes, to Develop an idea means to expand, refine, or bring it to fruition.
How does Enhance relate to aesthetics?
In aesthetics, to Enhance means to make something more attractive or striking.
Is there overlap in the use of Enhance and Develop?
Yes, while they have distinct primary meanings, in some contexts they can be used interchangeably.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
