wooden

English

Alternative forms

• wodden (obsolete)

Etymology

PIE word
*dwóh₁

From wood +‎ -en. Dates from 1530s, gradually replaced treen (“made from a tree”), from Middle English treen, from Old English triewen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwʊdən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊdən

Adjective

wooden (comparative more wooden, superlative most wooden)

1. Made of wood.

   a wooden boat

   On a recent windy day, hundreds of visitors climbed wooden stairs to take pictures in front of the glacier.

   Audio (US):

   (file)

   In such a case, you can make a very good case for wooden cases.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

   • 2012 October 8, Daniel W. Patterson, The True Image: Gravestone Art and the Culture of Scotch Irish Settlers in the Pennsylvania and Carolina Backcountry‎^[1], UNC Press Books, →ISBN, page 141:

     The second and third quarters of the shield are indecipherable on the stone but clearer in two other representations of the arms, a painted wooden funeral hatchment for Mary Davie […]

2. (figuratively) As if made of wood; moving awkwardly, or speaking with dull lack of emotion.

   wooden acting

Derived terms

• don't take any wooden nickels
• wooden anniversary
• Woodenbridge
• wooden coat
• woodener
• woodenest
• wooden fish
• wooden-headed
• woodenheaded
• wooden horse
• wooden kimono
• wooden language
• wooden leg
• woodenly
• wooden mare
• woodenness
• wooden nickel
• wooden nutmeg
• wooden overcoat
• wooden spoon
• wooden spooner
• wooden spoonist
• wooden surtout
• woodentop
• wooden-top
• wooden wedge

 

Translations

made of wood

• Arabic: خَشَبِيّ (ḵašabiyy)
• Armenian: փայտե (hy) (pʻayte), փայտյա (hy) (pʻaytya)
• Belarusian: дрэ́ўны (dréŭny), драўня́ны (draŭnjány), драўля́ны (draŭljány)
• Bulgarian: дъ́рвен (bg) (dǎ́rven)
• Catalan: de fusta
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 木製もくせい／木き制せい (zh) (mùzhì)

• Crimean Tatar: taqta
• Czech: dřevěný (cs)
• Dutch: houten (nl)
• Esperanto: ligna (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: puinen (fi)
• French: boisé (fr), en bois
• Friulian: legnôs
• Galician: de madeira
• German: hölzern (de), Holz-, hölzern (de)
• Gothic: 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (triweins)
• Greek: ξύλινος (el) (xýlinos)

  Ancient: ξύλινος (xúlinos), ξυλικός (xulikós), κάλινος (kálinos), ἔγξυλος (énxulos), δορήϊος (dorḗïos); (made of wooden planks) δουράτεος (douráteos), δούρειος (doúreios), δούριος (doúrios)

• Icelandic: tré-, úr tré
• Ingrian: puin, puukas
• Italian: di legno, ligneo (it)
• Japanese: 木製もくせい (ja) (もくせい, mokusei)
• Korean: 목조 (ko) (mokjo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: darîn (ku)

• Latin: ligneus (la)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: medinis
• Luxembourgish: hëlzen
• Macedonian: дрвен (drven)
• Old English: trīewen
• Ottoman Turkish: آغاج (ağac)
• Persian: چوبی (fa) (čubi), چوبین (fa) (čubin)
• Polish: drewniany (pl)
• Portuguese: lenhoso (pt), de madeira
• Romanian: lemnos (ro), de lemn
• Russian: деревя́нный (ru) (derevjánnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: др̏вен

  Roman: dȑven (sh)

• Slovak: drevený
• Slovene: lesén (sl) m
• Spanish: de madera
• Swedish: trä-
• Telugu: కలప (te) (kalapa)
• Tocharian B: oraṣṣe
• Turkish: tahta (tr)
• Ukrainian: дерев'я́ний (derevʺjányj)

figuratively

• Bulgarian: вдървен (vdǎrven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 呆ほけ板いた (zh) (dāibǎn)

• Dutch: houterig (nl)
• Finnish: puiseva (fi)
• French: raide (fr)
• German: hölzern (de)
• Japanese: 木偶でくの坊ぼう (dekunobō), 無表情むひょうじょう (ja) (muhyōjō)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: дрвен (drven)
• Russian: деревя́нный (ru) (derevjánnyj)
• Spanish: acartonado (es)
• Swedish: träaktig
• Turkish: odun (tr)

Anagrams

• Ewondo

Yola

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wuːˈdiːn/

Adjective

wooden

1. wooden
   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4, page 96:

     An neeat wooden trenshoorès var whiter than snow.

     And neat wooden trenchers far whiter than snow.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 96