neaten

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /ˈnitn̩/ UK /ˈniːtn̩/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to make tidy or orderly

She paused to neaten the stack of papers before the meeting.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make tidy or orderly tidy straighten arrange order trimsmartenspruce

Opposites

muss dishevel disarrange mess

Word family

Related forms neat neatly neatness

Etymology

From neat (from Old French net, 'clean, pure', from Latin nitidus, 'shining, elegant', from nitere, 'to shine') plus the verb-forming suffix -en.

net Old English nitidus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process Word Formation & Derivatives

# neaten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈnitn̩
**IPA (UK):** ˈniːtn̩

## Meanings
1. to make tidy or orderly

## Examples
- She paused to neaten the stack of papers before the meeting.

## Synonyms
- tidy
- straighten
- arrange
- order
- trim
- smarten
- spruce

## Antonyms
- muss
- dishevel
- disarrange
- mess

## Related Forms
- neat
- neatly
- neatness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: net
- Root: nitidus

## Etymology
From neat (from Old French net, 'clean, pure', from Latin nitidus, 'shining, elegant', from nitere, 'to shine') plus the verb-forming suffix -en.

## AI Etymology
Neaten comes from neat (from Old French net, 'clean, pure', from Latin nitidus, 'shining, elegant', from nitere, 'to shine') plus the verb-forming suffix -en. The etymological trail includes Old French net, Latin nitidus. The same word family includes neat, neatly, neatness. Its current verb use means "to make tidy or orderly".

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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neaten

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