adj · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:/ˈɝθən/
UK:/ˈɜː(ɹ)θən/
UK:/ˈɜː(ɹ)ðən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)θən
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ðən
homophone: Earthan
CMU ARPABET:ER1 TH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Made of earth or mud.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans A hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Made of clay.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: especially
Examples
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, [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Earthly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
to provide or add soil to
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
to make earthly or earthlike
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective
Meaning 6
made of earth (or baked clay)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
an earthen pot
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
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 (“made of”).
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1er-der. Proto-Germanic *erþō Proto-West Germanic *erþu Old English eorþe Middle English erthe English earth English -en English earthen From earth + -en (“to make like”).
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
تُرَابِيّ
(turābiyy)
— made of earth or mud
Armenian:
հողեղեն
(hoġeġen)
— made of earth or mud
Bulgarian:
пръстен
(prǎsten)
— made of earth or mud
Dutch:
aarden
— made of earth or mud
Esperanto:
tera
— made of earth or mud
German:
irdisch
— made of earth or mud
Gothic:
𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃
(airþeins)
— made of earth or mud
Ancient Greek:
χοϊκός
(khoïkós)
— made of earth or mud
Latin:
terreus
— made of earth or mud
Russian:
земляно́й
(zemljanój)
— made of earth or mud
Ottoman Turkish:
طوپراق
(toprak)
— made of earth or mud