ex·ag·ger·ate / igˈzajəˌrāt/ • v. [tr.] represent (something) as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really is: they were apt to exaggerate any aches and pains.DERIVATIVES: ex·ag·ger·at·ed·ly adv.ex·ag·ger·a·tion n.ex·ag·ger·a·tive / -ˌrātiv/ adj.ex·ag·ger·a·tor / -ˌrātər/ n.ORIGIN: mid 16th cent.: from Latin exaggerat- ‘heaped up,’ from the verb exaggerare, from ex- ‘thoroughly’ + aggerare ‘heap up’ (from agger ‘heap’). The word originally meant ‘pile up, accumulate,’ later ‘intensify praise or blame,’ ‘dwell on a virtue or fault,’ giving rise to current senses.

exaggerate †accumulate, pile up XVI; make (a thing) out greater than it is XVII. f. pp. stem of L. exaggerāre, f. EX-1 + aggerāre heap up, f. agger heap, prob. f. AG- +gerere carry; see -ATE3.
So exaggeration XVI. — L.