Flattened

How to spell flattened

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce flattened

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does flattened mean?

1. verbMade something flat, level, or smooth, or pressed it down.
2. adjectiveReduced to a flat, level, or compressed shape.

Flattened in a sentence

• verb

  The heavy storm flattened the wheat across the whole field.

• adjective

  The flattened cardboard boxes stacked neatly against the wall.

• verb

  She flattened the dough with a rolling pin before cutting the biscuits.

• adjective

  He found the flattened remains of a soda can on the road.

Where does flattened come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'flat' came into English from the Old Norse 'flatr', meaning 'flat' or 'level', brought over by Norse settlers and largely replacing the native vocabulary for the idea in the medieval period. By the 1300s 'flat' was firmly established as an adjective describing a smooth, even surface with no bumps. The verb 'flatten' was formed later, around the 1500s, by adding the productive suffix '-en', which turns an adjective into a verb meaning 'to make or become', exactly as in 'darken', 'harden' and 'soften'. 'Flattened' is simply the past tense and past participle, built by adding the regular '-ed' ending. The doubled 't' is the main spelling point: because 'flat' ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, that consonant doubles when '-en' is attached, giving 'flatten' and then 'flattened'.

How the word is built

• flat (Old Norse flatr: flat, level)
• -en (verb-forming suffix: to make)
• -ed (past tense/participle)