embroidery

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English embrouderie,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman enbrouderie,^[5][6][7] a derivative of enbrouder (“to embroider”).^[6][7][5] The Anglo-Norman verb is formed from en- (“in”) and Old French broisder (“to embroider”),^[7][8] a word of Germanic origin,^[5] which Etymonline traces to Frankish *brozdon.^[8] The OED and Merriam-Webster instead take the noun as formed in Middle English from the verb, with the suffix -ery,^[9][3] and Dictionary.com notes that the spelling with “-oi-” is taken from embroider.^[4] Ayto and Etymonline think the change from “-broud-” to “-broid-” may be due to broiden, a past participle of braid.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The art of ornamenting cloth with needlework: 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, which speaks of a woman taking up her work "of wevinge or enbrouderie".^[9][2]

Semantic evolution

From the art the word passed to the embroidered work itself, recorded from about 1577 (Etymonline: 1560s).^[9][8][5] From 1640 it was used figuratively of showy or added ornament,^[9] which became the sense of embellishing a story or report.^[10] From 1644 it was applied to other decoration likened to needlework, especially in poetry to the adornment of nature, such as flowers in a meadow.^[9][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "figures raised upon a ground; variegated needlework".^[11] In music it has been used since 1875 for ornamentation by counterpoint or variation.^[9]

Timeline

• 1393 – the art of embroidering, in Gower.^[9][2]
• c. 1577 – embroidered work or material.^[9] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1560s.^[8]
• 1640 – figuratively, showy or added ornament.^[9]
• 1644 – decoration compared to needlework, especially of nature.^[9]
• 1796 – a place where embroidery is made.^[9]
• 1875 – in music, ornamentation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art or craft of decorating cloth with designs sewn in thread by hand or machine; needlework.^[10][3][9]
2. Embroidered work, or a piece of it: a cushion covered with silk embroidery.^[10][3][9]
3. Added detail or exaggeration in a story or report; embellishment.^[10][3][9]

Related words

• embroider
• broider
• braid

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.