Dictionary

dizen en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈdɪzən/

Etymology

From dialectal dize (“to put tow on a distaff”), from Middle English *disen, from Old English *disan, *disian, from *dise, *disen (“bunch of flax on a distaff”), from Proto-Germanic *disanō (“distaff”), of unknown origin, equivalent to dize + -en. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Diezene (“bundle of flax, distaff”), Middle Low German dise, disene (“distaff”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To dress with flax for spinning.
2. (transitive) To dress with clothes; attire; deck; bedizen.
   • Like a tragedy queen he has dizen'd her out, / Or rather like tragedy giving a rout. 1774, Oliver Goldsmith, “Retaliation”, in The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, published 1906:
3. (UK, dialectal, transitive) To dress showily; adorn; dress out.
   • I tell you, these Englishwomen have either no life at all in them, or they're nothing but animal life. 'Gad, how they dizen themselves! They've no other use for their fingers. The wealth of this country's frightful!' 1871, George Meredith, chapter XXXIX, in The Adventures of Harry Richmond:

Forms

Deriveds

bedizen