Meanings
present singular third person embroiders · participle present embroidering · participle past embroidered · past embroidered · alternative obsolete embroder
- To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
- figurativelyTo add imaginary detail to a narrative to make it more interesting or acceptable.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbadd details to
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frankish*anbroʀdōn“to embroider, stitch”
- Gothic*𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌶𐌳𐍉𐌽
- Old Frenchbrosder
- Old Frenchembrosder“to embroider”
- Anglo-Normanembrouder
- Middle Englishembrouderen
- Englishembroider
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”).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian бродирам, разкрасявам
- бродирам (brodiram)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- разкрасявам (razkrasjavam)to add imaginary detail to a narrative
Catalan brodar
- brodarto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Chinese Mandarin 刺繡 /刺绣
- 刺繡 /刺绣 (cìxiù)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Czech vyšívat
- vyšívatto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Danish brodere
- brodereto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Dutch borduren, aandikken
- bordurento stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- aandikkento add imaginary detail to a narrative
Esperanto brodi
- brodito stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Finnish kirjoa, koruommella
- kirjoato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- koruommellato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- kirjaillato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- värittääto add imaginary detail to a narrative
French broder, broder
- broderto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- broderto add imaginary detail to a narrative
German sticken, besticken
- stickento stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- bestickento stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- ausschmückento add imaginary detail to a narrative
Greek κεντάω, κεντάω
- κεντάω (kentáo)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- κεντάω (kentáo)to add imaginary detail to a narrative
Hindi काढ़ना
- काढ़ना (kāṛhnā)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Hungarian hímez
- hímezto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Icelandic sauma út, bródera
- sauma útto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- bróderato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- baldýrato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Irish bróidnigh, gréasaigh
- bróidnighto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- gréasaighto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- spruigeáilto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Italian ricamare, ricamare
- ricamareto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- ricamareto add imaginary detail to a narrative
- abbellireto add imaginary detail to a narrative
- indorareto add imaginary detail to a narrative
Japanese 刺繍する
- 刺繍する (shishū suru)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Latin acū pingo
- acū pingoto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Latvian izšūt
- izšūtto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Lithuanian siuvinėti, išsiuvinėti
- siuvinėtito stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- išsiuvinėtito stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Māori tāniko
- tānikoto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Norwegian brodere
- brodereto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Polish haftować, wyhaftować
- haftowaćto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- wyhaftowaćto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- koloryzowaćto add imaginary detail to a narrative
- podkolorowywaćto add imaginary detail to a narrative
- podkolorowaćto add imaginary detail to a narrative
Portuguese bordar, florear
- bordarto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- florearto add imaginary detail to a narrative
Russian вышива́ть, вы́шить
- вышива́ть (vyšivátʹ)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- вы́шить (výšitʹ)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
- приукра́шивать (priukrášivatʹ)to add imaginary detail to a narrative
- приукра́сить (priukrásitʹ)to add imaginary detail to a narrative
Spanish bordar
- bordarto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Swahili tarizi
- tarizito stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Swedish brodera
- broderato stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Turkish nakış işlemek
- nakış işlemekto stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Vietnamese thêm mắm thêm muối
- thêm mắm thêm muốito add imaginary detail to a narrative
Yiddish העפֿטן
- העפֿטן (heftn)to stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with embroider
All rhymes →Cite this entry
embroider. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroider
“embroider.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroider. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “embroider,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/embroider.
Source: embroider on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.