Wordwyrt

embellish

/ɪmˈbelɪʃ/im-BEH-lish
/ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/im-BEH-lish

Meaningto make pretty

Common meaning: to decorate

‘in’ + ‘pretty, fine’ → embellish

Journey through time

  1. Latinbellus‘pretty, fine’
  2. Frenchembeliss
  3. Old Frenchembellirsource
  4. Middle Englishembelissensource
  5. Englishembellish‘to decorate’ · today

em- also in: employembraceempathyempyreanempirical

bell also in: bellebeauty

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin bellus ‘pretty, fine’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry bellus, p. 56 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • bellus Latin “pretty, fine”

Related words

beaubeautybelle

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