earthen

From Middle English erthen, urthen, from Old English eorþen, *yrþen, *ierþen (“made of earth”), from Proto-Germanic *irþīnaz, equivalent to earth +‎ -en (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Dutch aarden (“earthen”), German irden (“earthen”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈəɹθən/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɜː(ɹ)θən/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θən

earthen (comparative more earthen, superlative most earthen)

1. Made of earth or mud.
   • 1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

     A hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake […]

2. Made of clay (especially said of pottery).
   • 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, […]

3. (archaic) Earthly.
   • 1903, Maria Lydia Winkler, From Glory to Glory; Or, The Christian's Glorious Ministry (page 228)

     Will they be yours when one by one these earthen / Delights and comforts and all beauties wane? / Will they be found laid up above, illumined?

• Teheran, earneth, hearten, rhenate