-en

Meaning

Denotes the past participle form when attached to a verb.

Synonyms

en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: -n

Cognate with Middle English: take(n), took, taken

Cognate with Old Norse: taka, tók, tekinn

Cognate with Old English: -en

Cognate with Middle English: do(n), dud(e), ydo

Inherited from Middle English: -en

Inherited from Old English: -an

Cognate with Old High German: -

Inherited from Middle English: -enen

Inherited from Old English: -nian

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: -enje

Cognate with Western Frisian: -enje

Cognate with Danish: -ne

Cognate with Swedish: -na

Cognate with Icelandic: -na

Inherited from Old English: -en

Cognate with Dutch: -en

Cognate with German: -en

Cognate with Icelandic: -inn

Cognate with Latin: -īnus

In summary

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.