Worden

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An obsolete past participle of an old verb meaning to become or come to be, used in earlier English writing
2. A dated plural past participle of an archaic verb once used to mean to become or to come into a state
3. Used in older English texts as the past participle of a verb meaning to become, now replaced by other forms

Etymology: "Worden" is a Middle English and older Scots/northern English form of the past participle of "worth," the verb meaning "to become" or "to come to be." In Old English the verb was "weorþan," which meant "to become, come to pass, happen," and its past participle "geworden" gave Middle English "iworden" and later "worden," used in the sense "had become" or "had turned into." Its relatives include German "werden," which still means "to become" and serves as the auxiliary for the German future and passive, and Dutch "worden," which does the same job. The verb survives in English mainly in the phrase "woe worth the day," where "worth" is the subjunctive of this same "weorþan," meaning "may it become woe." Modern English "worth" as in "worthy of" comes from a different Old English word, "weorþ," meaning "valuable," so the two have separated in meaning. "Worden" itself dropped out of standard English after the Middle English period, surviving mostly in dialect and archaic verse.