Makeup

How to spell makeup

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce makeup

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does makeup mean?

1. nounCosmetics such as foundation, lipstick, and mascara applied to the face.
2. nounThe way something is composed or the qualities that form a person or thing.

Makeup in a sentence

• She packed her makeup in a small zipped bag for the trip.

• The genetic makeup of the population shaped the study results.

• The bride wore very little makeup on her wedding day.

• Patience was simply part of her makeup from childhood.

Where does makeup come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English compound, formed simply by welding the everyday verb 'make' to the particle 'up'. The verb 'make' descends from Old English 'macian', meaning 'to produce, build, or bring into being', a word shared with the Dutch 'maken' and German 'machen'. The phrasal verb 'to make up' had long meant 'to put together, complete, or compose', and from that the noun was carved off in the nineteenth century to mean the way something is composed or constituted. The cosmetic sense arose in the theatrical world of the late 1800s, where actors would 'make up' their faces for the stage before a performance. Because it is a compound of two short, familiar words, the spelling trap is not the letters themselves but knowing whether to write it solid as 'makeup', hyphenated as 'make-up', or as two words.

How the word is built

• make (verb: to form or constitute)
• up (adverb particle), fused into a closed compound noun