Etymologically
Log in

tighten

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtaɪ.tən/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English tight + -en, from the adjective tight and the verb-forming suffix.[2][3][4][5] Etymonline notes that the earlier verb was simply tight.[3] The adjective tight is, according to the OED, apparently an altered form of thight, with which it was at first synonymous.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To draw tight or tighter, to make taut, to fix tightly: 1727, in Nathan Bailey's dictionary.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to straiten; to make close".[6] The sense "to press closely together, to compress" is recorded from 1853, and the intransitive use, to grow tight or tense, often with up, from 1846; both are also used figuratively.[2] In 1786 the verb was used reflexively for making oneself neat or tidy, after an old sense of tight, but this did not last.[2] In colloquial use of 1896 it meant to tight-lace.[2] The phrase tighten one's belt, to spend less or economize, is listed in Collins and the Shorter Oxford.[7][5] In northern English, Yorkshire and Essex dialect, tighten also meant to initiate a workman newly taken on, in a mock ceremony held during his first dinner hour.[8]

Timeline

  • 1727 – to draw tight, to make taut or secure.[2][4]
  • 1755 – Johnson: to straiten, to make close.[6]
  • 1786 – reflexive, to make oneself tidy (obsolete).[2]
  • 1846 – intransitive, to grow tight or tense.[2]
  • 1853 – to press closely together, to compress.[2]
  • 1896 – colloquial, to tight-lace.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make something tight or tighter; to pull taut or fasten more firmly, often with up: He tightened the screws on the hinge.[7][4][2]
  2. To become tight or tighter: Her grip tightened on the railing.[7][4][2]
  3. To make rules, controls or the like stricter or more stringent: The council tightened its parking rules.[4][5]
  4. tighten one's belt: to spend less; to economize.[7][5]

Word family

  • tightener
  • overtighten
  • untighten
  • retighten

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)