embellishment
/emˈbelɪʃmənt/em-BEH-lish-muhnt
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ɛmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/em-BEH-lish-muhnt
Meaningthe act of embellishing
Common meaning: a decoration or added detail
Tap a word part to explore
- emin
- bellpretty, fineLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 228 · scan
- ishverb ending (from French -iss-)
- mentnoun ending: act or result
‘in’ + ‘pretty, fine’ → embellishment
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from embellish + -ment.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), EMBELLISH, p.188 · scan
Roots
- bellus Latin “pretty, fine”
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