1612 (indicated as1611),John Speed, “Stafford-shire”, inThe Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine: Presenting an Exact Geography of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Iles Adioyning:[…][1], London:[…][William Hall][…] and are to be solde by Iohn Sudbury & Georg Humble,[…],→OCLC, archived fromthe original on15 July 2022, paragraph 6,page69:
[O]thers [i.e., rivers] ariſing and running thorovv this Shire, doe ſobatten the ground, that the Medovves euen in the midſt of VVinter grovv greene;[…]
Like enough, Sir, ſhee'll doe forty ſuch things in an houre (an you liſten to her) for her recreation, if the toy take her i'the greaſie kerchiefe: it makes her fat you ſee. Sheebattens vvith it.
VVe eate our ovvne, andbatten more, Becauſe vve feed on no mans ſcore: But pitie thoſe vvhoſe flanks grovv great, Svvel'd vvith the Lard of others meat.
Sure he preſum'd of praiſe, vvho came to ſtock Th' etherial paſtures vvith ſo fair a flock; Burniſh'd, andbat'ning on their food, to ſhovv The diligence of carefull herds belovv.
[S]ome fell ſerpent in his cave expects The traveller's approach,batten'd vvith herbs Of baneful juice to fury, forth he looks Hideous, and lies coil'd all around his den.
As at full length the pamper'd Monarch lay, Batt'ning in Eaſe, and ſlumb'ring Life avvay: A ſpightful Noiſe his dovvny Chains unties, Haſtes forvvard, and encreaſes as it flies.
1830,Alfred Tennyson, “The Kraken”, inThe Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Chicago, Ill.: The Dominion Company, published1897,→OCLC,page 8:
There hath he lain for ages and will lie Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,[…]
The strong carnivorous eagle, shall wheel down To meet thee,—self-called to a daily feast,— And set his fierce beak in thee, and tear off The long rags of thy flesh, andbatten deep Upon thy dusky liver!
The brain had its own food on which itbattened, and the imagination, made grotesque by terror, twisted and distorted as a living thing by pain, danced like some foul puppet on a stand and grinned through moving masks.
[H]opes he may VVith charmes, likeÆson, haue his youth reſtor'd: And vvith theſe thoughts ſobattens, as if fate VVould be as eaſily cheated on, as he, And all turnes aire!
[T]here are sceptics with a taste for carrion whobatten on the hideous facts in history, – persecutions, inquisitions, St. Bartholomew massacres, devilish lives,Nero,Cæsar,Borgia,Marat,Lopez, – men in whom every ray of humanity was extinguished, parricides, matricides, and whatever moral monsters.
(of land or soil):Synonym:(dialectal or obsolete)batful
1627, John Speed, “Cornwall”, inEngland, Wales, Scotland and Ireland Described and Abridged.[…], London:[…] Georg Humble[…],→OCLC,signature [D6], verso, paragraph 3:
The Soile for the moſt part is lifted vp into many hilles, parted aſunder vvith narrovv and ſhort vallies, and a ſhallovv earth doth couer their out-ſide, vvhich by aSea-vveede calledOrevvood, and a certaine kinde of fruitfullSea-ſand, they make ſo ranke andbatten, as is vncredible.
She was too sick to get out of bed, and he was not able to hoist her up without assistance;[…] we were permitted to come in and hoist her ladyship up again to thebattens.
1972 September 1, “Basic Construction of Small Boats and Ships”, inMarine Crewman’s Handbook (Technical Manual;55-501), Washington, D.C.: Headquarters,Department of the Army,→OCLC, section II (The Construction of Small Boats),page12-3:
In carvel construction, the planks which cover the sides of the vessel lie alongside one another without overlapping and the seams are calked. Where the construction is too light to admit calking, a narrowbatten or ribband is run along the seams inside.
Nail down the lid; caulk the seams; pay over the same with pitch;batten them down tight, and hang it with the snap-spring over the ship's stern. Were ever such things done before with a coffin?
Debated. A comparable form is synonymousDutchbaten, which pertains to the Germanic root at hand inEnglishbatten andbetter. At least a secondary relation with this Dutch verb seems certain. However, its regular cognate isOld High Germanbazzen(“to batten”), which would have led to modern*bassen, bässen. Mere borrowing fromLow German or Dutch is unlikely since the verb has-t- in westernUpper German and a corresponding-d- in many dialects ofWest Central German. Possibly two distinct roots have been merged.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2023.
batten on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
