batten

C2+ Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /ˈbætən/ UK /ˈbætən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a strip of wood; to fasten down or thrive at another's expense

They battened down the hatches before the gale struck.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strip of wood; to fasten... strip lath slat fasten secure thrive flourish

Word family

Related forms baton

Etymology

The wooden-strip sense is from French bâton ('stick'); the verb 'to thrive at another's expense' is a separate word from Old Norse batna ('to improve'), from bati ('improvement').

batna Old Norse *batnaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# batten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbætən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbætən/

## Meanings
1. a strip of wood; to fasten down or thrive at another's expense

## Examples
- They battened down the hatches before the gale struck.

## Synonyms
- strip
- lath
- slat
- fasten
- secure
- thrive
- flourish

## Related Forms
- baton

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: batna
- Root: *batnaną

## Etymology
The wooden-strip sense is from French bâton ('stick'); the verb 'to thrive at another's expense' is a separate word from Old Norse batna ('to improve'), from bati ('improvement').

## AI Etymology
Batten has sense-specific history: the wooden-strip sense is from French bâton ('stick'); the verb 'to thrive at another's expense' is a separate word from Old Norse batna ('to improve'), from bati ('improvement'). Important recorded forms include batna (Old Norse) and *batnaną (Proto-Germanic). The current sense covers a strip of wood; to fasten down or thrive at another's expense. The wider family includes related words such as baton.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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