Smythen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, a variant spelling of Smith or Smyth, derived from an ancestor who worked as a metalsmith
2. An English surname, an old spelling variant of Smith that came from a forebear who forged iron or other metals
3. A surname of English origin linked to the trade of the smith, carried by families who used this less common spelling

Etymology: Smythen is a verb meaning to smother or choke, and it's an old dialect-flavored word that survived mainly in northern and Scottish English. It descends from Middle English "smothen" and related forms, which are tied to the Old English "smorian" (to smother, suffocate), the same root that gives "smother" itself. The "-en" ending is a common verbal suffix in English, so the word is a straightforward derivative of a much older stem rather than a borrowing. The surprise here is how little the word has changed in shape while the forms around it have split apart. "Smother" and "smothen" share a root but took different routes, with "smother" becoming the standard spelling and "smothen" hanging on in regional speech and older writing. Because the word was rarely recorded in the period when English spelling was standardized, its history is documented mostly through dialect dictionaries and scattered literary uses, so exact dates for its earliest appearances are uncertain.