embroider

The story

1. Frankish · derived from*anbroʀdōn“to embroider, stitch”
2. Gothic · derived from*𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌶𐌳𐍉𐌽
3. Old French · derived frombrosder
4. Old French · derived fromembrosder“to embroider”
5. Anglo-Norman · derived fromembrouder
6. Middle English · inherited fromembrouderen
7. English todayembroider

From Middle English embrouderen, frequentative of embrouden (“to decorate, embroider”), equivalent to embroid + -er. Middle English embrouden itself comes from Anglo-Norman embrouder, from Old French embrosder (“to embroider”), ultimately of Germanic origin, though the exact pathway is uncertain. Possibly an intensive of Old French brosder, brouder (compare Norman broudaïr), from Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌶𐌳𐍉𐌽 (*bruzdōn), related to English bristle and brad. Alternatively, perhaps from Frankish *anbroʀdōn (“to embroider, stitch”), related to Old High German anabrortōn (“to embroider”), Old English onbryrdan (“to prick, incite”).