ample adj.

fem. proper name, from Old French Amee, literally "beloved," from fem. past participle of amer "to love," from Latin amare "to love, be in love with; find pleasure in," Proto-Italic *ama- "to take, hold," from a PIE root meaning "take hold of," also the source of Sanskrit amisi, amanti "take hold of; swear;" Avestan *ama- "attacking power;" Greek omnymi "to swear," anomotos "under oath;" Old Irish namae "enemy." According to de Vaan, "The Latin meaning has developed from 'to take the hand of' [to] 'regard as a friend'."

1540s, "enlargement" in any dimension, from Latin amplificationem (nominative amplificatio) "a widening, extending," noun of action from past-participle stem of amplificare "to enlarge, broaden, increase," from amplus "large" (see ample) + combining form of facere "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Originally in English often of rhetorical devices; the meaning "enlargement of sound by electrical technology" is from 1915.