Sworen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle of the verb to swear, meaning having bound oneself by a solemn promise or oath
2. Obsolete past participle form used of someone who has made a solemn vow or formally declared something as true
3. Old-fashioned participle indicating that a person has pledged something under oath or firmly asserted it before witnesses

Etymology: "Sworen" is the archaic past participle of "swear," the form that once stood alongside "sworn" and is now used mainly in poetry and older English. "Swear" comes from Old English "swerian," which meant to take an oath or make a solemn promise, and its past participle was "sworen," with the -en ending typical of strong verbs of that period. The same pattern survives in "speak/spoken," "break/broken," and "steal/stolen." Over the Middle English period, "sworn" gradually took over as the standard participle, and the vowel of the verb itself shifted in the past tense from "swear" toward "swore." The older form "sworen" lasted longest in the north and in verse, which is why Chaucer and other medieval writers use it freely.