Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “wooden” come from?

Wooden derives from Middle English -en attached to Old English wudu, which comes from Proto-Indo-European widʰu-.

wooden (English): Made of wood; As if made of wood; moving...

Definitions

  1. Made of wood; As if made of wood; moving...

Ancestry of “wooden”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-enDenotes the past participle form when attached to...
2Middle English-enDenotes the past participle form when attached to...
3Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
4Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
5Proto-Norse-īna-—
6Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
7Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
8Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “wooden”

  • woodenly
  • woodenness
  • woodenware
  • woodenheaded
  • nonwooden
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →