earthen

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English erthen, urthen, from Old English eorþen, yrþen, ierþen (made of earth), from Proto-Germanic *irþīnaz. Cognate with Dutch aarden (earthen), German irden (earthen). By surface analysis, earth +‎ -en.

Adjective

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earthen (comparative more earthen, superlative most earthen)

  1. Made of earth or mud.
    • 1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans
      A hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake []
    • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:
      But transects have also been utilised in a large variety of arenas, including surveying the contents of Amerindian earthen mounds[.]
  2. Made of clay (especially said of pottery).
    • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation
      ... the Godfathers and Godmothers follow into the midst of the Church, where there is a small table ready set, and on it an earthen pot ful of warme water, []
  3. (archaic) Earthly.
    • 1903, Maria Lydia Winkler, From Glory to Glory; Or, The Christian's Glorious Ministry, page 228:
      Will they be yours when one by one these earthen / Delights and comforts and all beauties wane? / Will they be found laid up above, illumined?
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From earth +‎ -en.

Verb

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earthen (third-person singular simple present earthens, present participle earthening, simple past and past participle earthened)

  1. (transitive) to provide or add soil to
    • 2017, N.R. Das, Tillage and Crop Production, 2nd Ed., page 104:
      Their inter-tillage operations, earthening-up of some crops and tillage in orchard/gardens or plantation crops, are stated below, under special cropping system in different situations.
  2. (transitive) to make earthly or earthlike
    • 1919, The Improvement Era, volume 23, page 191:
      It deadens,—or earthens—the spirit in both directions.

Anagrams

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