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Origin and history of graven

graven(adj.)

"sculpted, carved," late 14c., past-participle adjective from grave (v.) + -en (1).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to graven

grave(v.)

"to engrave," Old English grafan "to dig, dig up; engrave, carve, chisel" (medial -f- pronounced as "v" in Old English; past tense grof, past participle grafen), from Proto-Germanic *grabanan (source also of Old Norse grafa "to dig; engrave; inquire into," Old Frisian greva, Dutch graven "to dig, delve," Old High German graban, German graben, Gothic graban "to dig, carve"), from the same source as grave (n.). Its Middle English strong past participle, graven, is the only part still active, the rest of the word supplanted by its derivative, engrave.

-en(1)

word-forming element making verbs (such as darken, weaken) from adjectives or nouns, from Old English -nian, from Proto-Germanic *-inojan (also source of Old Norse -na), from PIE adjectival suffix *-no-. Most active in Middle English and early modern English, hence most verbs in -en are comparatively recent.

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    celt
    stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel celte sculpantur in silice;" translated, probably correctly, in KJV as, "That they were graven...
    statue
    made in a solid substance, of some size and in the round," late 14c., from Old French statue, estatue "(pagan) statue, graven...
    idol
    mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship," from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god" (11c....
    scratch
    c. 1400, scracchen, transitive, "mark or wound slightly on the surface by a scraping or tearing action with something rough, sharp, or pointed," probably a fusion of Middle English scratten and crachen, both meaning "to scratch," both of uncertain origin. Also compare scr-. Relat
    sculpture
    late 14c., "the art or process of sculpture, the act or art of carving or shaping figures and other objects in the round or in relief on more or less hard surfaces," from Latin sculptura "sculpture," from past participle stem of sculpere "to carve, engrave," a back-formation from
    character
    mid-14c., carecter, "symbol marked or branded on the body;" mid-15c., "symbol or drawing used in sorcery;" late 15c., "alphabetic letter, graphic symbol standing for a sound or syllable;" from Old French caratere "feature, character" (13c., Modern French caractère), from Latin ch
    crave
    Old English crafian "ask, implore, demand by right," from North Germanic *krabojan (source also of Old Norse krefja "to demand," Danish kræve, Swedish kräva); perhaps related to craft (n.) in its base sense of "power." Current sense "to long for, eagerly desire" is c. 1400, proba
    carve
    Middle English kerven (the initial -k- is from influence of Scandinavian forms), from Old English ceorfan (class III strong verb; past tense cearf, past participle corfen) "to cut," also "cut down, slay; cut out," from West Germanic *kerbanan (source also of Old Frisian kerva, Mi
    panic
    "sudden mass terror," especially an exaggerated fright affecting a number of persons without visible cause or inspired by trifling cause or danger, 1708, from an earlier adjective (c. 1600, modifying fear, terror, etc.), from French panique (15c.), from Greek panikon, literally "
    oracle
    late 14c., "a message from a god expressed by divine inspiration through a priest or priestess," in answer to a human inquiry, usually respecting some future event, from Old French oracle "temple, house of prayer; oracle" (12c.) and directly from Latin oraculum, oraclum "divine a

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