a suffix formerly used to form transitive and intransitive verbs from adjectives (fasten; harden; sweeten), or from nouns (heighten; lengthen; strengthen).
Origin
Middle English,Old English-n- (as in Middle Englishfast-n-en,Old Englishfǣst-n-ian to make fast, fasten); cognate with -n- of like verbs in other Gmc languages (Old Norsefastna)
-en2
1.
a suffix used to form adjectives of source or material from nouns:
ashen; golden; oaken.
Origin
Middle English,Old English; cognate with Old High German-īn,Gothic-eins,Latin-īnus; see -ine1
-en3
1.
a suffix used to mark the past participle in many strong and some weak verbs:
taken; proven.
Origin
Middle English,Old English; cognate with German-en,Old Norse-inn
-en4
1.
a suffix used in forming the plural of some nouns:
brethren; children; oxen.
Origin
Middle English;Old English-an, case ending of n-stem nouns, as in naman oblique singular, and nominative and accusative plural of nama name; akin to n-stem forms in other IE languages, as in Latinnōmen, nōmin- name
cause to be; become; cause to have: blacken, heighten
Word Origin
Old English -n-, as in fæst-n-ian to fasten, of common Germanic origin; compare Icelandic fastna
-en2
suffix
1.
of; made of; resembling: ashen, earthen, wooden
Word Origin
Old English -en; related to Gothic -eins, Latin -īnus-ine1
Word Origin and History for -en
word-forming element making verbs (e.g. darken, weaken) from adjectives or from nouns, from Old English -nian, from Proto-Germanic *-inojan (cf. Old Norse -na), from PIE adjectival suffix *-no-. Most active in Middle English.
suffix added to nouns to produce adjectives meaning "made of, of the nature of" (e.g. golden, oaken), corresponding to Latin -ine. Common in Old and Middle English, surviving words with it now are largely discarded in everyday use and the simple form of the noun serves as an adjective as well.