earthen

[ur-thuh n]

See more synonyms for earthen on Thesaurus.com

adjective

Origin of earthen

1175–1225; Middle English erthen, Old English eorthen. See earth, -en²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for earthen

dirt, mud, rock, stone, fictile

Examples from the Web for earthen

Contemporary Examples of earthen

From deep within, looking up at the tropical sky is like staring through the dome of some kind of earthen cathedral.
What Made Mexico’s Most Mysterious Beach?
Brandon Presser
October 14, 2014
The earthen ground floor was reserved for crop storage and the occasional chicken or other small animal.
A Little Too Off the Beaten Path in Burma
Katya Cengel
June 2, 2014

Historical Examples of earthen

If the one be porcelain, and the other earthen ware, both are brittle!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II
Francis Augustus Cox
When it is thick and smooth, take it off, and pour it into an earthen pan.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
No, Margaret, you and I could not have turned him from our earthen roof.
The Rock of Chickamauga
Joseph A. Altsheler
I don't like earthen pots for them any way—the plants do better in wood or tin.
The Mayflower, January, 1905
Various
To quiet him Desiree had to get him an earthen pan full of dish-water.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for earthen

earthen

adjective (prenominal)

made of baked clayan earthen pot
made of earth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for earthen

adj.

early 13c., "made of earth;" see earth + -en (2). Not attested in Old English (where eorðen meant "of or in the earth"). Cognate of Old High German irdin, Gothic airþeins. Meaning "made of clay" is attested from late 14c.