Etymology

-en

Today it means: Denotes the past participle form when attached to a verb. Full definition →

Middle English -n ← Old English -en ← Old Norse -inn
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-en · suffix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*-nós
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*-anaz
  3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*-inaz
  4. Old Norse · derived from-inn
  5. Old English · inherited from-en
  6. Middle English · inherited from-n
  7. English today-en

From Middle English -n, -en, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Middle English take(n), took, taken (“take, took, taken”)), from Old English -en and Old Norse -inn, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Old Norse taka, tók, tekinn (“take, took, taken”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *-inaz, a variant of *-anaz. In Middle English, the suffix was often weakened to -e or disappeared (compare Southern Middle English do(n), dud(e), ydo (“do, did, done”)), but not in others (compare cume(n), com, ycume (“come, came, come”)), from Proto-Germanic *-anaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós.

-en · suffix2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*-on-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-an- m
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-an m
  4. Old English · inherited from-an
  5. Middle English · inherited from-en
  6. English today-en

From Middle English -en, -n, the plural suffix of weak nouns (n-stems), from Old English -an, from Proto-West Germanic *-an m, *-ōn f or n, from Proto-Germanic *-an- m, *-ōn- f or n, from Proto-Indo-European *-on-, o-grade form of the n-stem suffix. Reinforced by the early Middle English dative plural ending -en, from late Old English -an, weakened form of earlier -um.

-en · suffix3

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-inōną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-inōn
  3. Old English · inherited from-nian
  4. Middle English · inherited from-(e)nen
  5. English today-en

From Middle English -(e)nen, from Old English -nian, from Proto-West Germanic *-inōn, from Proto-Germanic *-inōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian -enje, West Frisian -enje, Danish -ne, Swedish -na, Icelandic -na.

-en · suffix4

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-īnaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-īn
  3. Old English · inherited from-en
  4. Middle English · inherited from-en
  5. English today-en

From Middle English -en, from Old English -en, from Proto-West Germanic *-īn, from Proto-Germanic *-īnaz; suffix meaning "made of, consisting of, having the qualities of" applied to nouns to form adjectives. Akin to Dutch -en, German -en, Icelandic -inn, Latin -īnus. See -ine.

-en · suffix5

  1. Old English · inherited from-en
  2. Middle English · inherited from-en
  3. English today-en

From Middle English -en, from Old English -en, from the neuter form of -en (“pertaining to”, adjective-forming suffix).

-en · suffix6

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-inī
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-ini
  3. Old English · inherited from-en
  4. Middle English · inherited from-ene
  5. English today-en

From Middle English -ene, -en, from Old English -en, from Proto-West Germanic *-ini, from Proto-Germanic *-inī.

-en · suffix7

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-aną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*-an
  3. Old English · derived from-an
  4. Middle English · inherited from-en
  5. English today-en

From Middle English -en, from Old English -an, from Proto-West Germanic *-an, from Proto-Germanic *-aną. Compare -y (intransitive infinitive ending).

-en · suffix8

  1. Old English · derived from-on
  2. Middle English · inherited from-en
  3. English today-en

From Middle English -en, from Old English -on and -en, the indicative and subjunctive past tense plural endings of verbs.

-en · suffix9

  1. French · derived from-ène
  2. English today-en

From French -ène.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.