Thudden

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Struck or dropped with a dull, heavy sound, as an archaic past participle of the verb thud
2. Having hit or fallen with a low, muffled impact, in an older form of the verb meaning to thud
3. Brought down with a deep, dull thump, a past form of the verb that describes such a sound

Etymology: A heavy object landing on the ground makes a dull, low sound, and English speakers have long tried to capture it with a short, blunt word. "Thud" is one such imitation of that noise, and "thudden" is built on it. The ending "-en" is an old English suffix that turns a noun or adjective into a verb, as in "deepen" or "harden," so "thudden" means something like "to make a thud" or, in the sense given here, to fall with one. Because the root is imitative, the word's sound does most of the work. The "th" and "d" sounds give a muffled, solid impact that the word itself reproduces. The verb is uncommon, mostly found in older or literary writing, which is why many readers meet it once and wonder where it came from.