Watered

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈwɔːtə(ɹ)d/

Definitions

1. Provided with water to help growth or maintain hydration ; made less concentrated or strong usually by adding water or other liquid
2. Given water to keep plants or soil moist and healthy ; reduced in potency by mixing with a liquid, often water
3. Added water to something to sustain it ; diluted a substance so it is thinner or less effective

Etymology: "Watered" is the past participle and past tense of "water" used as a verb, and it is a plain formation: the noun "water" with the ending "-ed," which turns a noun into a verb meaning to supply, treat, or cover with water. The verb "to water" was already in use in Old English, so the participle inherited that pattern early on. The source traces the form to Middle English spellings such as "watered," "watred," and "ywaterd," which show the same ending being written in several ways as the language shifted. Those spellings descend from an Old English form, "wæterod," built on "wæter," the ancestor of today's "water." English shares this formation with West Frisian and Dutch, where "wetterd" and "verwaterd" carry the same sense of having been treated with water.

Synonyms: moistened, hydrated, dampened, irrigated, saturated

Antonyms: dried, dehydrated, desiccated, parched, withered