worn English · revision 6666

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1508}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /wɔːn/ ''(UK)''; /woɹn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle of [[wear]], used as an adjective;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) the verb is from Old English [[m|ang|werian]], whose participle was geworen in Etymonline's account.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Impaired or damaged by wear or use: 1508 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1500 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) late Middle English in SOED.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of persons, wasted or exhausted by toil, age or anxiety, it is also from 1508.^(OED 1989) Of words or ideas, hackneyed or trite, it is from 1569,^(OED 1989) and of land, no longer fertile, from 1681.^(OED 1989) ''Worn-out'' is from the 1610s of clothing and about 1700 of persons.^(Etymonline) In Scots a ''wornweb'' was a thin, badly spun cloth.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1508 – damaged by use; exhausted.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1569 – hackneyed.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – worn-out, of clothing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1681 – of land, exhausted.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Damaged or thinned by long use: ''a worn carpet''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Looking tired and strained; [[haggard]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Overused; [[hackneyed]].^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wornness]]

+ * [[footworn]]

+ * [[overworn]]

+ * [[shopworn]]

+ * [[timeworn]]

+ * [[toilworn]]

+ * [[unworn]]

+ * [[waterworn]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wear]]

+ * [[worn-out]]

+ * [[outworn]]

+ * [[well-worn]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}