batten

VVe drove a field, and both together heard / VVhat time the Gray-fly vvinds her ſultry horn, / Batt'ning our flocks vvith the freſh devvs of night, […]

1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 58:

To cause (an animal, etc.) to become fat or thrive through plenteous feeding; to fatten.

[O]thers [i.e., rivers] ariſing and running thorovv this Shire, doe ſo batten the ground, that the Medovves euen in the midſt of VVinter grovv greene; […]

1612 (indicated as 1611), John Speed, “Stafford-shire”, in The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine: Presenting an Exact Geography of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Iles Adioyning: […], London: […] [William Hall] […] and are to be solde by Iohn Sudbury & Georg Humble, […], →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-07-15, paragraph 6, page 69:

(rare) To enrich or fertilize (land, soil, etc.).

No, let him batten; when his tongue / Once goes, a cat is not worse strung.

c. 1588 (date written; published 1591), John Lyly, Endimion, the Man in the Moone. […], London: […] I[ohn] Charlewood, for the widdowe Broome, →OCLC; republished George P[ierce] Baker, editor, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, 1894, →OCLC, Act III, scene iii, page 50, lines 1126–1127:

Like enough, Sir, ſhee'll doe forty ſuch things in an houre (an you liſten to her) for her recreation, if the toy take her i'the greaſie kerchiefe: it makes her fat you ſee. Shee battens vvith it.

1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 21:

VVe eate our ovvne, and batten more, / Becauſe vve feed on no mans ſcore: / But pitie thoſe vvhoſe flanks grovv great, / Svvel'd vvith the Lard of others meat.

1648, Robert Herrick, “His Content in the Country”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 233:

Our vvomen batten vvell on their good-nature; / All they can rap and rend for the dear creature.

1684, John Dryden, “Prologue to the Dissappointment: Or, The Mother in Fashion. [By Mr. [Thomas] Southerne, 1684.] Spoken by Mr. [Thomas] Betterton.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 349:

Sure he preſum'd of praiſe, vvho came to ſtock / Th' etherial paſtures vvith ſo fair a flock; / Burniſh'd, and bat'ning on their food, to ſhovv / The diligence of carefull herds belovv.

1687, [John Dryden], “[The First Part]”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 22:

[S]ome fell ſerpent in his cave expects / The traveller's approach, batten'd vvith herbs / Of baneful juice to fury, forth he looks / Hideous, and lies coil'd all around his den.

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XXII.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 577, lines 106–109:

To become better; to improve in condition; especially of animals, by feeding; to fatten up.

Of land, soil, etc.: to become fertile; also, of plants: to grow lush.

Could you on this faire Mountaine leaue to feed, / And batten on this Moore?

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 271, column 1:

Follovv your Function, go, and batten on colde bits.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 22, column 1:

As at full length the pamper'd Monarch lay, / Batt'ning in Eaſe, and ſlumb'ring Life avvay: / A ſpightful Noiſe his dovvny Chains unties, / Haſtes forvvard, and encreaſes as it flies.

1699, [Samuel Garth], “Canto I”, in The Dispensary: A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Nutt […], →OCLC, page 6:

There hath he lain for ages and will lie / Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep, […]

1830, Alfred Tennyson, “The Kraken”, in The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Chicago, Ill.: The Dominion Company, published 1897, →OCLC, page 8:

The strong carnivorous eagle, shall wheel down / To meet thee,—self-called to a daily feast,— / And set his fierce beak in thee, and tear off / The long rags of thy flesh, and batten deep / Upon thy dusky liver!

1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Prometheus Bound. From the Greek of Æschylus.”, in Poems. […], new edition, volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 187:

The brain had its own food on which it battened, and the imagination, made grotesque by terror, twisted and distorted as a living thing by pain, danced like some foul puppet on a stand and grinned through moving masks.

1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XIV, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 248:

(often passive voice) Followed by on: to eat greedily; to glut.

Robber barons who battened on the poor

There, in these Dens of Satan, […] do Sieur Motier's mouchards consort and colleague; battening vampyre-like on a People next-door to starvation.

1837, Thomas Carlyle, “The Wakeful”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book III (The Tuileries), page 108:

(figurative) Followed by on: to prosper or thrive, especially at the expense of others.

(intransitive)
(figurative) To gloat at; to revel in.

[H]opes he may / VVith charmes, like Æson, haue his youth reſtor'd: / And vvith theſe thoughts ſo battens, as if fate / VVould be as eaſily cheated on, as he, / And all turnes aire!

1605 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Volpone, or The Foxe. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, scene iiii, page 461:

[T]here are sceptics with a taste for carrion who batten on the hideous facts in history, – persecutions, inquisitions, St. Bartholomew massacres, devilish lives, Nero, Cæsar, Borgia, Marat, Lopez, – men in whom every ray of humanity was extinguished, parricides, matricides, and whatever moral monsters.

1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Courage”, in Society and Solitude. Twelve Chapters, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 247:

(figurative) To gratify a morbid appetite or craving.

en-verb

batten (third-person singular simple present battens, present participle battening, simple past and past participle battened)

battens (present singular third-person)
battening (participle present)
battened (participle past)
battened (past)
batten (infinitive)

угоявам

to become better; to improve in condition

lihottaa

especially of animals: to improve in condition by feeding — see also fatten up

lihoa

es sich gut gehen lassen (auf Kosten anderer)

The verb is derived from Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”), from Proto-Germanic *batnaną (“to become better, improve”) (compare Old Norse bati (“advantage, improvement”), from Proto-Germanic *batô (“improvement, recovery”)), from *bataz (“good”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed- (“good”). Compare battle (“(adjective) improving; fattening, nutritious; fertile, fruitful; (verb) to feed or nourish; to render (land, etc.) fertile or fruitful”) (obsolete).
The adjective is probably derived from the verb.
cognates
* Dutch baten (“to avail, benefit, profit”)
* Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gabatnan, “to benefit, profit”)
* Icelandic batna (“to improve, recover”)
* Old English batian (“to get better, recover”)


batten

(of land or soil):

The Soile for the moſt part is lifted vp into many hilles, parted aſunder vvith narrovv and ſhort vallies, and a ſhallovv earth doth couer their out-ſide, vvhich by a Sea-vveede called Orevvood, and a certaine kinde of fruitfull Sea-ſand, they make ſo ranke and batten, as is vncredible.

1627, John Speed, “Cornwall”, in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland Described and Abridged. […], London: […] Georg Humble […], →OCLC, signature [D6], verso, paragraph 3:

battle

(obsolete) Synonym of battle (“of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; of land (originally pastureland) or soil: fertile, fruitful”)

en-adj

batten (comparative more batten, superlative most batten)

more batten (comparative)
most batten (superlative)


batten

(carpentry, construction) A plank or strip of wood, or several of such strips arranged side by side, used in construction to hold members of a structure together, to provide a fixing point, to strengthen, or to prevent warping.

A strip of wood holding a number of lamps; especially (theater), one used for illuminating a stage; (by extension, also attributive) a long bar, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system and used to support curtains, scenery, etc.

The next morning, we took the battens from the hatches, and opened the ship.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXIX, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 326:

She was too sick to get out of bed, and he was not able to hoist her up without assistance; […] we were permitted to come in and hoist her ladyship up again to the battens.

1840, [Frederick] Marryat, “In which, Like Most People, who Tell Their Own Stories, I Begin with the Histories of Other People”, in Poor Jack. […], London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, page 6:

In carvel construction, the planks which cover the sides of the vessel lie alongside one another without overlapping and the seams are calked. Where the construction is too light to admit calking, a narrow batten or ribband is run along the seams inside.

1972 September 1, “Basic Construction of Small Boats and Ships”, in Marine Crewman’s Handbook (Technical Manual; 55-501), Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, Department of the Army, →OCLC, section II (The Construction of Small Boats), page 12-3:

(nautical) A long, narrow strip, originally of wood but now also of fibreglass, metal, etc., used for various purposes aboard a ship; especially one attached to a mast or spar for protection, one holding down the edge of a tarpaulin covering a hatch to prevent water from entering the hatch, one inserted in a pocket sewn on a sail to keep it flat, or one from which a hammock is suspended.

(weaving) The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.

فَسْقِيَّة

plank or strip of wood, or several of such strips arranged side by side, used in construction to hold members of a structure together, etc.

tanko

long bar affixed to the ceiling or fly system and used to support curtains, etc.

лати

long, narrow strip used for various purposes aboard a ship

The noun is from Middle English bataunt, batent (“finished bar or board (as for panelling)”), from Old French batent (“a beating”), a noun use of the present participle form of batre (“to beat, hit, strike”), from Late Latin battere, the present active infinitive of battō (“to beat”), from Latin battuō (“(very rare) to beat, hit, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ-, *bʰedʰh₂- (“to pierce; to stab”) or *bʰat- (“to hit”), ultimately onomatopoeic.
The verb is derived from the noun.


batten

To furnish (something) with battens (noun sense 1).

Nail down the lid; caulk the seams; pay over the same with pitch; batten them down tight, and hang it with the snap-spring over the ship's stern. Were ever such things done before with a coffin?

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Life-buoy”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 580:

(chiefly nautical) Chiefly followed by down: to fasten or secure (a hatch, opening, etc.) using battens (noun sense 2.2).

battens (present singular third-person)
battening (participle present)
battened (participle past)
battened (past)

kiinnittää latoilla

to fasten or secure (a hatch, etc.) using battens


batten

(obsolete, western Germany) to be useful, to be of use, to help

de-verb

batten (weak, third-person singular present battet, past tense battete, past participle gebattet, auxiliary haben)

battet (present singular third-person)
battete (past)
gebattet (participle past)
haben (auxiliary)
haben (auxiliary)
batten (infinitive)
battend (participle present)
gebattet (participle past)
batte (first-person indicative present singular)
batten (first-person indicative plural present)
batte (first-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
batten (first-person plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
battest (indicative present second-person singular)
battet (indicative plural present second-person)
battest (second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
battet (plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
battet (indicative present singular third-person)
batten (indicative plural present third-person)
batte (singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
batten (plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
battete (first-person indicative preterite singular)
batteten (first-person indicative plural preterite)
battete (first-person formal rare singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
batteten (first-person formal plural rare subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
battetest (indicative preterite second-person singular)
battetet (indicative plural preterite second-person)
battetest (formal rare second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
battetet (formal plural rare second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
battete (indicative preterite singular third-person)
batteten (indicative plural preterite third-person)
battete (formal rare singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
batteten (formal plural rare subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
batt (imperative second-person singular)
batte (imperative second-person singular)
battet (imperative plural second-person)
haben (auxiliary)
habe gebattet (first-person indicative multiword-construction perfect singular)
haben gebattet (first-person indicative multiword-construction perfect plural)
habe gebattet (first-person multiword-construction perfect singular subjunctive)
haben gebattet (first-person multiword-construction perfect plural subjunctive)
hast gebattet (indicative multiword-construction perfect second-person singular)
habt gebattet (indicative multiword-construction perfect plural second-person)
habest gebattet (multiword-construction perfect second-person singular subjunctive)
habet gebattet (multiword-construction perfect plural second-person subjunctive)
hat gebattet (indicative multiword-construction perfect singular third-person)
haben gebattet (indicative multiword-construction perfect plural third-person)
habe gebattet (multiword-construction perfect singular subjunctive third-person)
haben gebattet (multiword-construction perfect plural subjunctive third-person)
hatte gebattet (first-person indicative multiword-construction pluperfect singular)
hatten gebattet (first-person indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural)
hätte gebattet (first-person multiword-construction pluperfect singular subjunctive)
hätten gebattet (first-person multiword-construction pluperfect plural subjunctive)
hattest gebattet (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect second-person singular)
hattet gebattet (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural second-person)
hättest gebattet (multiword-construction pluperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
hättet gebattet (multiword-construction pluperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
hatte gebattet (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect singular third-person)
hatten gebattet (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural third-person)
hätte gebattet (multiword-construction pluperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
hätten gebattet (multiword-construction pluperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
batten werden (future future-i infinitive multiword-construction)
werde batten (first-person future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werden batten (first-person future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdest batten (future future-i multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdet batten (future future-i multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werde batten (future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werden batten (future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werde batten (first-person future future-i indicative multiword-construction singular)
werden batten (first-person future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural)
würde batten (first-person future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würden batten (first-person future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wirst batten (future future-i indicative multiword-construction second-person singular)
werdet batten (future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural second-person)
würdest batten (future future-i multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würdet batten (future future-i multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wird batten (future future-i indicative multiword-construction singular third-person)
werden batten (future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural third-person)
würde batten (future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
würden batten (future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
gebattet haben werden (future future-ii infinitive multiword-construction)
werde gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werden gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdest gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdet gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werde gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werden gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werde gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii indicative multiword-construction singular)
werden gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural)
würde gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würden gebattet haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wirst gebattet haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction second-person singular)
werdet gebattet haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural second-person)
würdest gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würdet gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wird gebattet haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction singular third-person)
werden gebattet haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural third-person)
würde gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
würden gebattet haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)

Debated. A comparable form is synonymous Dutch baten, which pertains to the Germanic root at hand in English batten and better. At least a secondary relation with this Dutch verb seems certain. However, its regular cognate is Old High German bazzen (“to batten”), which would have led to modern *bassen, bässen. Mere borrowing from Low German or Dutch is unlikely since the verb has -t- in western Upper German and a corresponding -d- in many dialects of West Central German. Possibly two distinct roots have been merged.