batten

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

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

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

batten down the hatches
to prepare yourself and your resources for an approaching difficult situation

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

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

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
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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