worsen

Etymology

It is formed from English worse + -en,^[2][3][4][5] first as inherited from Middle English wersnen,^[3][6] which the Middle English Dictionary takes from the older verb wersen.^[6] Worse is from Old English wyrsa, also wiersa, from Proto-Germanic *wirsizô (Etymonline: *wers-izon-),^[3][4] the comparative of a base that Watkins traces to Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to confuse, mix up”), the root also of war.^[3] The OED compares Middle High German wirsenen (“to make worse, damage, offend”) and Old Norse versna (“to become worse”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both to make worse and to grow worse, before 1250, in the Ancrene Riwle;^[2][6] the Middle English Dictionary has it of a wound that grows worse and of making a person worse off.^[6] Etymonline dates it to the mid-13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that worsen was rare before the 17th century, when the usual verb was worse itself.^[2] Etymonline says that the intransitive sense "grow worse" was revived in literature by Southey and his followers about 1800–1830, and quotes Fitzedward Hall (1873), who found that the word, long only provincial, was a forceful alternative to deteriorate.^[3] The Shorter Oxford dates the intransitive use to the late 18th century.^[4] In the 19th century it also meant to make oneself worse off (1828, in a Craven dialect glossary) and to cause property to lose value (1862).^[2] Wright's dialect dictionary found it in general dialect use in Scotland, England and America, with northern forms such as warsen and wussen.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1250 – to make worse; to grow worse, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][6]
• 1828 – reflexive, to make oneself worse off.^[2]
• 1862 – to cause property to lose value (now rare).^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become worse; to deteriorate: The storm worsened overnight.^[8][5][2]
2. To make worse; to impair: The new tariffs worsened relations between the two countries.^[8][5][2]

Related words

• worse
• worst
• war

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e 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)
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins