Embed

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈbɛd/

Definitions

1. To fix or set something firmly and deeply within a surrounding mass or context
2. To securely place an object within a surrounding medium while establishing a deep connection to the overall structure or context
3. To insert an item deeply within a material or environment, creating a firm connection to the larger structure or context it resides in

Etymology: The verb "embed" is a plain formation: the prefix "em-", a variant of "en-" meaning "in" or "into", attached to "bed". To embed something is, literally, to put it into a bed, as a stone is set into a wall or a fossil set into rock. The bed here is the ordinary word for a place where something lies or rests, and the prefix turns it into an action of fixing something firmly within another thing. The prefix has a long pedigree. It goes back through Latin "in" and the Old French "en-" into Middle English as "en-", and before "b" and "p" it took the form "em-", which is why the word is spelled with an "m" rather than an "n". "Bed" itself comes from Old English "bedd", descending from Proto-Germanic "badjąz" and the West Germanic "badi", so the core of the word is native English while the prefix arrived from Latin by way of French.

Synonyms: insert, implant, fix

Antonyms: remove