Standard Lemma guide

earthen

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
  • Welsh: pridd — made of earth or mud
  • Welsh: o bridd — made of earth or mud
  • Welsh: priddin — made of earth or mud
  • Arabic: فَخَرِيّ (faḵariyy) — made of clay
  • Arabic: خَزَفِيّ (ḵazafiyy) — made of clay
  • Arabic: طِينِيّ (ṭīniyy) — made of clay
  • Bulgarian: глинен (glinen) — made of clay
  • Czech: hliněný — made of clay
  • Dutch: kleien — made of clay
  • Finnish: savi- — made of clay
  • Galician: de arxila — made of clay
  • German: irden — made of clay
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (airþeins) — made of clay
  • Irish: cré — made of clay
  • Irish: criaga — made of clay
  • Latin: fictilis — made of clay
  • Russian: гли́няный (glínjanyj) — made of clay
  • Ottoman Turkish: طوپراق (toprak) — made of clay
Real reading context

earthen in complete knowledge articles