Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Embellish — Em*bel lish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Embellished}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Embellishing}.] [OE. embelisen, embelisshen, F. embellir; pref. em (L. in) + bel, beau, beautiful. See {Beauty}.] To make beautiful or elegant by ornaments; to decorate; to adorn;… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
embellish — I verb add details, adorn, array, beautify, bedeck, bedizen, bejewel, beribbon, bespangle, better, blazon, chase, dandify, deck, decorare, decorate, dizen, dress up, elaborate, emblazon, emboss, embroider, encrust, enhance, enrich, exornare, fix… … Law dictionary
embellish — mid 14c., to render beautiful, from O.Fr. embelliss , stem of embellir make beautiful, ornament, from em (see EN (Cf. en ) (1)) + bel beautiful, from L. bellus (see BENE (Cf. bene )). Meaning dress up (a narration) with fictitious matter is from… … Etymology dictionary
embellish — beautify, deck, bedeck, garnish, *adorn, decorate, ornament Analogous words: enhance, heighten, intensify: apparel, array (see CLOTHE) Contrasted words: denude, *strip, bare, divest … New Dictionary of Synonyms
embellish — [v] make beautiful; decorate add bells and whistles*, adorn, amplify, array, beautify, bedeck, color, deck, dress up*, elaborate, emblaze, embroider, enhance, enrich, exaggerate, festoon, fix up*, fudge*, garnish, gild, give details, grace, gussy … New thesaurus
embellish — ► VERB 1) make more attractive; decorate. 2) add extra details to (a story or account) for interest. DERIVATIVES embellisher noun embellishment noun. ORIGIN Old French embellir, from bel handsome … English terms dictionary
embellish — [em bel′ish, imbel′ish] vt. [ME embelishen < extended stem of OFr embellir < em (L in) + bel < L bellus, beautiful] 1. to decorate or improve by adding detail; ornament; adorn 2. to add grace notes, syncopated accents, trills, etc. to (a … English World dictionary
embellish — [[t]ɪmbe̱lɪʃ[/t]] embellishes, embellishing, embellished 1) VERB If something is embellished with decorative features or patterns, it has those features or patterns on it and they make it look more attractive. [be V ed with n] The stern was… … English dictionary
embellish — UK [ɪmˈbelɪʃ] / US verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms embellish : present tense I/you/we/they embellish he/she/it embellishes present participle embellishing past tense embellished past participle embellished 1) to make a story more… … English dictionary
embellish — verb /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/ a) To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate. The old book cover was embellished with golden letters b) To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality, to dist … Wiktionary
embellish — verb Embellish is used with these nouns as the object: ↑story … Collocations dictionary
