Fattened

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. To have undergone a process resulting in increased body weight, particularly by accumulating fat reserves or altering diet
2. To be enlarged or made heavier as a result of a weight gain strategy, particularly focusing on fat accumulation
3. Having gained weight due to the addition of body fat, often through increased food intake or reduced activity

Etymology: "Fattened" is the past participle and past tense of "fatten," so its history is really the history of the verb. "Fat" is an old English word, appearing in Old English as "fætt," and it was originally a past participle form meaning "fattened" or "made fat" in the sense of being fed or prepared. The adjective "fat" gradually came to mean plump or having much body fat, while the verb "fatten" was formed from it by adding the suffix "-en," a common English way of turning adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or become that quality," as in "hasten," "soften," and "widen." The verb's core sense has stayed remarkably stable: to feed up an animal, or to cause a person or creature to put on weight. Farmers have long fattened livestock for market, and the word carries that agricultural flavor, which is why it often sounds more technical than the everyday "to gain weight."

Synonyms: enlarged, thickened, plumped, rounded, stuffed

Antonyms: slimmed, thinned, leaned, reduced, diminished