-ed | Meaning Of Suffix -ed By Etymonline

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Origin and history of -ed

-ed

past-participle suffix of weak verbs, from Old English -ed, -ad, -od (leveled to -ed in Middle English), from Proto-Germanic *-da- (cognates: Old High German -ta, German -t, Old Norse -þa, Gothic -da, -þs), from PIE *-to-, "suffix forming adjectives marking the accomplishment of the notion of the base" [Watkins] (cognates: Sanskrit -tah, Greek -tos, Latin -tus; see -th (1)).

Originally fully pronounced, as still in beloved (which, with blessed, accursed, and a few others retains the full pronunciation through liturgical readings). In Old English already the first and third person singular past tense form of some "weak" verbs was -te, a variant of -de, often accompanied by a change in vowel sound (as in modern keep/kept, sleep/slept).

A tendency to shorten final consonants has left English with many past tense forms spelled in -ed but pronounced "-t" (looked, missed, etc.). In some older words both forms exist, with different shades of meaning, as in gilded/gilt, burned/burnt.

Entries linking to -ed

burn(v.)

early 12c., brennen, "be on fire, be consumed by fire; be inflamed with passion or desire, be ardent; destroy (something) with fire, expose to the action of fire, roast, broil, toast; burn (something) in cooking," of objects, "to shine, glitter, sparkle, glow like fire;" chiefly from Old Norse brenna "to burn, light," and also from two originally distinct Old English verbs: bærnan "to kindle" (transitive) and beornan "be on fire" (intransitive).

All these are from Proto-Germanic *brennanan (causative *brannjanan), source also of Middle Dutch bernen, Dutch branden, Old High German brinnan, German brennen, Gothic -brannjan "to set on fire;" but the ultimate etymology is uncertain. Related: Burned/burnt (see -ed); burning.

Figurative use (of passions, battle, etc.) was in Old English. The meaning "be hot, radiate heat" is from late 13c. The meaning "produce a burning sensation, sting" is from late 14c. The sense of "cheat, swindle, victimize" is attested from 1650s. In late 18c, slang, burned meant "infected with venereal disease."

To burn one's bridges (behind one) "behave so as to destroy any chance of returning to a status quo" (attested by 1892 in Mark Twain), perhaps ultimately is from reckless cavalry raids in the American Civil War. Of money, to burn a hole in (one's) pocket "affect a person with a desire to spend" from 1850.

Slavic languages have historically used different and unrelated words for the transitive and intransitive senses of "set fire to"/"be on fire:" for example Polish palić/gorzeć, Russian žeč'/gorel.

intentioned(adj.)

"having intentions" (of a specified kind), 16c., from intention + -ed.

• shrewd
• -th
• See All Related Words (4)

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shrewdc. 1300, shreued, "wicked, depraved, malicious, evil," from shrewe "wicked man" (see shrew) + -ed. Compare crabbed from crab (n.), dogged from dog (n.), wicked from witch (n.), all from early Middle English. The weaker or neutral sense of "cunning, sly, artful, clever or keen-witfungo[Paul Dickson, "The Dickson Baseball Dictionary," 3rd ed., 2009], attested from 1867 (fungoes), baseball slang, of unknown...Not in OED 2nd ed. (1989). There does not seem to have been a noun phrase (a) fun go in use at the time....berate[OED 1st ed.], but it seems to have revived in Britain 20c. Related: Berated; berating....lusciousBut OED 2nd ed. and Century Dictionary are against all this and the former considers it "of obscure origin" while the latter...australby the diagonal position of the axis of Italy" [Buck]; see Walde, Alois, "Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch," 3rd. ed...I, p.87; Ernout, Alfred, and Meillet, Alfred, "Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine," 2nd. ed., p.94....sexualityBuck, M.D., ed., "Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences," 1894]...flukeOED (2nd ed. print) allows only that it is "Possibly of Eng. dialectal origin."...recreationlate 14c., recreacioun, "refreshment or curing of a person, refreshment by eating," from Old French recreacion (13c.), from Latin recreationem (nominative recreatio) "recovery from illness," noun of action from past participle stem of recreare "to refresh, restore, make anew, revpython1580s, name of a fabled serpent, slain by Apollo near Delphi, from Latin Python, from Greek Pythōn "serpent slain by Apollo," probably related to Pythō, the old name of Delphi. Chaucer has it (late 14c.) as Phitoun. This might be related to pythein "to rot," or from PIE *dhubh-(oemotion1570s, "a (social) moving, stirring, agitation," from French émotion (16c.), from Old French emouvoir "stir up" (12c.), from Latin emovere "move out, remove, agitate," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). The sense

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/-edCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ed">Etymology of -ed by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of -ed. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 20, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/-edCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of -ed," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 20, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ed.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of -ed." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ed. Accessed 20 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of -ed." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ed (accessed January 20, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near -ed

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