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Humans have been making objects out of wood since before there even was an English language, but the adjectival use of "wood" didn't come into being until the 14th century, and "wooden" didn't appear until the 16th. (The word wood has ancient roots, but it originally existed only as a noun.) In Middle English, the adjective of choice was "tree" or "treen," as in a "tree vessel" or "treen shoes." "Treen" in turn came from the Old English word trēowen, from the noun "trēow" ("tree") and the suffix -en, which was used to indicate that something was composed of a certain material. As far as we know, no one ever used "treen" figuratively to describe things that are stiff as a board, but "wooden" was put to broader use soon after it was first recorded.
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Examples of wooden in a Sentence
Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 26 Dec. 2024
Colorful traditional wooden outrigger canoes called pirogues line the beach where men spend hours mending their nets.
—Sira Thierij, NPR, 26 Dec. 2024
All these gems are embedded in a wooden shell made of oak, sculpted with a gouge, just like the artisans who craft the cognac barrels.
—Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
Here’s a symbolic gesture that deeply touched me, a heartening drama on a darkening stage: the wooden Nativity scene unveiled at the Vatican earlier this month, created by Palestinian artists from Dar al-Kalima University, in Bethlehem.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Wooden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wooden. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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