-en

Meaning

1. Denotes the past participle form when attached to a verb.
2. Denotes a quasi-past participle or participle-like adjective when attached to a noun or verb.

Synonyms

en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ən/

Etymology

table
From Middle English -n, -en, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Middle English take(n), took, taken (“take, took, taken”)), from Old Norse -inn, past participle ending of strong verbs (compare Old Norse taka, tók, tekinn (“take, took, taken”)). From Proto-Norse *-ᛁᚾᚨ- (*-ina-), from Proto-Germanic *-inaz, a variant of *-anaz. Replaced the native past participle ending of strong verbs (from Old English -en) in some words, which had 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.