Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

batten

UK /ˈbæt(ə)n/ · US /ˈbætən/ verb, adjective, noun, proper noun

Forms battens battening battened battenest battenedst batteneth batton

  1. verb To cause (an animal, etc.) to become fat or thrive through plenteous feeding; to fatten.
  2. verb (rare) To enrich or fertilize (land, soil, etc.).
  3. verb To become better; to improve in condition; especially of animals, by feeding; to fatten up.
  4. verb Of land, soil, etc.: to become fertile; also, of plants: to grow lush.
  5. verb (often passive voice) Followed by on: to eat greedily; to glut.
  6. verb (figurative) Followed by on: to prosper or thrive, especially at the expense of others. “Robber barons who battened on the poor”
  7. verb (figurative) To gloat at; to revel in.
  8. verb (figurative) To gratify a morbid appetite or craving.
  9. adjective (obsolete) Synonym of battle (“of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; of land (originally pastureland) or soil: fertile, fruitful”).
  10. noun (carpentry, construction) A plank or strip of wood, or several of such strips arranged side by side, used in construction to hold members of a structure together, to provide a fixing point, to strengthen, or to prevent warping.
  11. noun A strip of wood holding a number of lamps; especially (theater), one used for illuminating a stage; (by extension, also attributive) a long bar, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system and used to support curtains, scenery, etc.
  12. noun (nautical) A long, narrow strip, originally of wood but now also of fibreglass, metal, etc., used for various purposes aboard a ship; especially one attached to a mast or spar for protection, one holding down the edge of a tarpaulin covering a hatch to prevent water from entering the hatch, one inserted in a pocket sewn on a sail to keep it flat, or one from which a hammock is suspended.
  13. noun (weaving) The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.
  14. verb To furnish (something) with battens (noun etymology 2, noun sense 1).
  15. verb (chiefly nautical) Chiefly followed by down: to fasten or secure (a hatch, opening, etc.) using battens (noun etymology 2, noun sense 2.2).
  16. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

fleshen stouten batful battle beater lathe batting batten down secure

Antonyms

unbatten

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”), from Proto-Germanic *batnaną (“to become better, improve”) (compare Old Norse bati (“advantage, improvement”), from Proto-Germanic *batô (“improvement, recovery”)), from *bataz (“good”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed- (“good”). Compare battle (“(adjective) improving; fattening, nutritious; fertile, fruitful; (verb) to feed or nourish; to render (land, etc.) fertile or fruitful”) (obsolete).
The adjective is probably derived from the verb.
* Dutch baten (“to avail, benefit, profit”)
* Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gabatnan, “to benefit, profit”)
* Icelandic batna (“to improve, recover”)
* Old English batian (“to get better, recover”)

The noun is from Middle English bataunt, batent (“finished bar or board (as for panelling)”), from Old French batent (“a beating”), a noun use of the present participle form of batre (“to beat, hit, strike”), from Late Latin battere, the present active infinitive of battō (“to beat”), from Latin battuō (“(very rare) to beat, hit, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ-, *bʰedʰh₂- (“to pierce; to stab”) or *bʰat- (“to hit”), ultimately onomatopoeic.
The verb is derived from the noun.

English surname, pet form of Batt.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten. "Battening our flocks." Milton.
  2. verb To fertilize or enrich, as land.
  3. verb To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one's self. Dryden.
  4. A strip of sawed stuff, or a scantling; as, (a) pl. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long. Brande & C. (b) (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing. (c) A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc. Batten door (Arch.), a door made of boards of the whole length of the door, secured by battens nailed crosswise.

Etymology [See Batful.]

Etymology [F. b stick, staff. See Baton.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “batten”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details