earthen

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English erthen, also urthen,^[2][1] inherited from Old English eorþen (“of or in the earth”),^[1][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *irþīnaz,^[1] formed from the Germanic base of earth and that of the adjective suffix -en.^[4][6] It is cognate with Middle Low German ērden, Old High German irdīn, German irden, Dutch aarden and Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (airþeins).^[4][7][1][3] Etymonline instead takes the English adjective as formed anew from earth and -en in the early 13th century, since the Old English word meant only "of or in the earth".^[7] The variant earthern has a second r probably by assimilation to the first syllable, perhaps helped by leathern, northern and southern.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Situated below the surface of the earth: in Old English glosses on Aldhelm, where eorþenum glosses Latin subterraneo; this sense is obsolete and rare.^[4][3] The sense "made of earth" is first recorded in the Ancrene Riwle, of about 1225,^[4][2] and Merriam-Webster dates it to the 13th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English erthen meant made of earth, or of the dust of the Bible.^[2] From about 1350 it also meant made of baked clay.^[4][7][2] From 1538 it could also mean belonging to the earth as opposed to heaven, worldly, a sense now rare.^[4][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "made of earth; made of clay", quoting Shakespeare's "green earthen pots".^[9]

Timeline

• Old English – situated below the surface of the earth (obsolete).^[4][3]
• c. 1225 – made of earth.^[4][2]
• c. 1350 – made of baked clay.^[4]
• 1538 – earthly, worldly (now rare).^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made of earth or soil: an earthen bank around the field.^[10][8][4]
2. Made of baked clay: an earthen bowl.^[10][8][4]
3. (rare) Of the earth rather than heaven; earthly or worldly.^[8][4][6]

Word family

• earthenware

Related words

• earth
• earthly

Usage notes

A rare verb earthen, formed separately from earth with a verbal suffix, meant to bury or cover with earth (1708–1871) and, in horticulture, to earth up plants (from 1904);^[4] Middle English had erthen, to bury a corpse.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins