entry
batten
/ˈbætən/Improve by feeding, or strengthen with a strip
From Proto-Indo-European via Proto-Germanic and Old Norse *bʰed- → batna → batten (good) + Latin via Late Latin, Old French, and Middle English battuō / battere → batent → batten (beat).
from Proto-Germanic *batô (“improvement, recovery”))
from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”)
from Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, probably
from Latin battuō (“(very rare) to beat, hit, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly
from Late Latin battere, the present active infinitive of battō (“to beat”)
from Old French batent (“a beating”), a noun use of the present participle form of batre (“to beat, hit, strike”)
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *batô (“improvement, recovery”))
from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”)
from Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, probably
from Latin battuō (“(very rare) to beat, hit, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly
from Late Latin battere, the present active infinitive of battō (“to beat”)
from Old French batent (“a beating”), a noun use of the present participle form of batre (“to beat, hit, strike”)
Two quite different histories are hiding inside this small, sturdy word. The verb batten is a northern Germanic relative of “better”: Old Norse batna meant “to improve” or “recover,” and the older root was associated with being good—so to batten on food was originally to thrive by feeding, not merely to eat greedily. The noun took a more violent route, probably passing through Old French batent, “a beating,” from Latin words for striking; its connection to those roots is disputed, and some scholars suspect an echo of a word meaning “to pierce” or even a sound-symbolic origin. By the 1650s, English batten meant a narrow strip of wood, and sailors were nailing such strips over tarpaulins on ship hatches by 1769, turning a “beating” stick into a storm-defense tool. Remember the split: one batten grows fat and prosperous, while the other gets hammered across a deck to keep the sea out.
The Story
Two quite different histories are hiding inside this small, sturdy word. The verb batten is a northern Germanic relative of “better”: Old Norse batna meant “to improve” or “recover,” and the older root was associated with being good—so to batten on food was originally to thrive by feeding, not merely to eat greedily. The noun took a more violent route, probably passing through Old French batent, “a beating,” from Latin words for striking; its connection to those roots is disputed, and some scholars suspect an echo of a word meaning “to pierce” or even a sound-symbolic origin. By the 1650s, English batten meant a narrow strip of wood, and sailors were nailing such strips over tarpaulins on ship hatches by 1769, turning a “beating” stick into a storm-defense tool. Remember the split: one batten grows fat and prosperous, while the other gets hammered across a deck to keep the sea out.
Modern Usage
A highly admired teacher who supports students and jokes with them
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry describing “Batten” as an exceptionally supportive teacher
Kin & Kindred
From '*bʰed- → batna → batten'·good; improvement; recovery
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'battuō / battere → batent → batten'·beat, strike; a beating
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary