batten

Meanings

Verb

• To become better; improve in condition, especially by feeding.
• To feed (on); to revel (in).
• To thrive by feeding; grow fat; feed oneself gluttonously.
• To thrive, prosper, or live in luxury, especially at the expense of others; fare sumptuously.
• To gratify a morbid appetite or craving; gloat.
• To improve by feeding; fatten; make fat or cause to thrive due to plenteous feeding.
• To fertilize or enrich, as land.
• To furnish with battens.
• To fasten or secure a hatch etc using battens.

Noun

• A thin strip of wood used in construction to hold members of a structure together or to provide a fixing point.
• A long strip of wood, metal, fibreglass etc., used for various purposes aboard ship, especially one inserted in a pocket sewn on the sail in order to keep the sail flat.
• In stagecraft, a long pipe, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system in a theater.
• The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.

Origin

• From Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse batna ("to grow better, improve, recover"), from Proto-Germanic *batnaną ("to become good, get better"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed-. Cognate with Icelandic batna ("to improve, recover"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌽 ("to be noteful, profit, boot"), Dutch baten ("to avail, profit, benefit"), Old English batian ("to get better, recover"). More at better.
• From Middle English bataunt, batent, from Old French batent ("beating").