embroider

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English embrouderen,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman enbrouder,^[4][5][6][7] formed from en- (“in, on”) and Old French brouder, also broisder (“to embroider”),^[4][5][7] now French broder,^[5][6] from Frankish *brozdōn, from Proto-Germanic *bruzdōjanan.^[3][4] The MED and Barnhart derive it from the earlier embrouden with the suffix -er, or from the French infinitive,^[2][3] and the American Heritage Dictionary has it partly from each.^[8] That earlier verb is a blend of Old English brogden, the past participle of bregdan (“to weave, knot”), with Old French embrodé (“embroidered”).^[2][8] The OED treats the modern verb as formed from English en- + broider, comparing embroder.^[9] The spelling with “-oi-” became established in the 17th century, after an early use in Spenser (1596),^[3][4] and is due to association with broid, to braid.^[5][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To decorate with needlework or sewn-on ornaments: about 1380, in Sir Ferumbras, in the form enbrouded, of a coat of arms set with pearls.^[2][3] The extended form embroudred appears before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis,^[2][3] and the OED's first example of embroider is from about 1420.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb covered ornaments sewn on as well as stitching: Chaucer's General Prologue has Embrouded was he as it were a meede, and the tapestries in Gawain are enbrawded with gems.^[2] The transferred sense of variegating, or ironically of smearing with dirt or blood, ran from 1460 to 1763.^[9][5][2] In the 17th century it became a figure for words: to set forth in florid language (before 1610), to make splendid (1629), and, the sense that lasted, to embellish with rhetoric or invented additions, from Raleigh's History of the World in 1614.^[9][5] Johnson (1755) gave only the needlework sense, quoting Waller and Pope.^[10] A noun embroider, an embroiderer, occurs in Holland in 1609.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – enbrouded, decorated with needlework or sewn-on ornaments.^[2][3]
• before 1393 – embroudred, in Gower.^[2][3]
• 1460 – to variegate as if with embroidery (obsolete by 1763).^[9]
• before 1610 – to set forth in florid language (obsolete by 1648).^[9]
• 1614 – to embellish with rhetoric, exaggeration or invention.^[9][5]
• 1629 – to make splendid (obsolete by 1667).^[9][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To decorate cloth with needlework: She embroidered a set of napkins.^[7][11][5]
2. To form a design on cloth with thread: He embroidered tiny anchors on the collar.^[11][7][5]
3. To do embroidery.^[11][12][7]
4. To add invented or exaggerated detail to an account; to embellish: Each retelling embroidered the story of the flood.^{[12][7][11][5]}
5. (obsolete, 1460–1763) To variegate as if with embroidery; ironically, to smear with dirt or blood.^[9][5]
6. (obsolete, 1629–67) To make splendid, dignify.^[9][5]

Word family

• embroiderer
• overembroider
• embroideress
• embroidery
• reembroider

Related words

• broider
• braid
• brad

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins