strengthened

Strengthened is the past participle of the verb strengthen. It is used to describe actions that increase strength or resilience and can function as a verb form (they have strengthened the defense) or as an adjective (a strengthened wall). The term is common across science, engineering, policy, and everyday language.

The verb strengthen comes from Old English strengþian, from strengþ meaning strength, related to the noun strength. The form strengthened appears in languages with Germanic roots and has the same basic meaning across contexts: to make stronger, to reinforce, or to fortify.

In practice, strengthened can refer to physical improvements (muscles strengthened by exercise), structural reinforcement (bridges, buildings retrofitted to improve load capacity), or policy and organizational changes (laws strengthened by tighter enforcement, programs strengthened by increased funding). In materials science, strengthening describes processes that raise yield strength or hardness—such as alloying, cold working, heat treatment, or precipitation hardening.

Examples:

- After the retrofit, the bridge was strengthened to better withstand earthquakes.

- The company strengthened its data security by adding multi-factor authentication.

- The athlete's leg muscles were strengthened through a focused training regimen.

See also: strengthen, strengthening, reinforced, retrofit.