overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

embroider.

To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɪmˈbɹɔɪdɚ/General-American/ɪmˈbɹɔɪdə/Received-Pronunciation
  1. To stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.

  2. To add imaginary detail to a narrative to make it more interesting or acceptable.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

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”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

embroider has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

embroider studioembroider workshello, embroider

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.