tidy
pronunciation
How to pronounce tidy in British English:
UK [ˈtaɪdi]
How to pronounce tidy in American English:
US [ˈtaɪdi]
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- Noun:
- receptacle that holds odds and ends (as sewing materials)
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- Verb:
- put (things or places) in order
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- Adjective:
- marked by good order and cleanliness in appearance or habits
- (used of hair) neat and tidy
- large in amount or extent or degree
Word Origin
- tidy
- tidy: [13] Tidy originally meant ‘timely, seasonable’ (it was a derivative of tide, in the now superannuated sense ‘time, season’). It early on evolved metaphorically to ‘goodlooking’, and hence ‘good’, but the modern sense ‘neat’ did not emerge until the 18th century. Titivate [19] may have been based on tidy.=> tide, titivate
- tidy (v.)
- "to make neat, set in order," 1821, from tidy (adj.). Related: Tidied; tidying.
- tidy (adj.)
- mid-13c., "in good condition, healthy," probably originally "in season, timely, opportune, excellent" (though this sense is not attested until mid-14c.), from tide (n.) in the sense of "season, time" + -y (2). Of persons, "of neat and orderly habits," from 1706. Similar formation in Old High German zitig, German zeitig, Dutch tijdig, Danish tidig "timely," Old English tidlic "temporal," also "timely, seasonable."
Example
- 1. Keeping their rooms tidy was her pleasure .
- 2. Rubbish-collecting lorries and street sweepers in tidy overalls are out every morning .
- 3. Rooms cared for by robots must be kept tidy .
- 4. And while you 're there , wash a few dishes or tidy up the room .
- 5. The invented language 's tidy roots and suffixes are well suited to wordplay .