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Origin and history of worn

worn(adj.)

"impaired or affected by wear or use," c. 1500, from adjectival use of past participle of wear (v.), which is from Old English geworen.

Worn-out "completely tired, exhausted by use, made ineffective by overuse" is attested from 1610s in reference to clothing, etc.; c. 1700 in reference to persons.

also from c. 1500

Entries linking to worn

wear(v.)

Middle English weren, "be clad or dressed in; carry or bear on the body for warmth, decency, ornament, etc.," from Old English werian "to clothe, put on, cover up," from Proto-Germanic *wasīn- (source also of Old Norse verja, Old High German werian, Gothic gawasjan "to clothe"), according to Watkins from a suffixed form of PIE *wes- (2) "to clothe," extended form of root *eu- "to dress."

The secondary sense of "consume by frequent or habitual use" (late 13c.) is from effect of continued use on clothes.

To wear down (transitive) "blunt the force of by steady resistance" is from 1843. To wear off "diminish by use, cease to have effect over time" is from 1690s. To wear out (transitive) "use till useless, waste or destroy by degrees" is by late 14c.; also intransitive "come to an end." To wear away "disappear gradually" is by mid-15c.

The Germanic forms "were homonyms of the vb. for 'prevent, ward off, protect' (Goth. warjan, O.E. werian, etc.), and this was prob. a factor in their early displacement in most of the Gmc. languages" [Buck].

In English it shifted from a weak verb (past tense and past participle wered) to a strong one (past tense wore, past participle worn) in 14c. on analogy of rhyming strong verbs such as bear and tear.

care-worn(adj.)

also careworn, "oppressed or burdened with cares," 1828, from care (n.) + worn.

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new
Middle English neue, from Old English neowe, niowe, earlier niwe "made or established for the first time, fresh, recently made or grown; novel, unheard-of, different from the old; untried, inexperienced, unused," from Proto-Germanic *neuja- (source also of Old Saxon niuwi, Old Fr
haggard
1560s, "wild, unruly" (originally in reference to hawks), from French haggard, said in Watkins to be from Old French faulcon hagard "wild falcon," literally "falcon of the woods," from hagard, hagart, from Middle High German hag "hedge, copse, wood," from Proto-Germanic *hagon, f
diadem
c. 1300, diademe, "aureole of a martyr or confessor;" mid-14c., "a crown, anything worn on the head as a mark of royalty,..." from Old French diademe and directly from Latin diadema "cloth band worn around the head as a sign of royalty," from Greek...diadema "the headband worn by Persian kings and adopted by Alexander the Great and his successors," from diadein "to bind...
boulder
1610s, "water-worn rounded stone of medium or large size," a variant of Middle English bulder ston "stone worn round, cobblestone...The specific geological sense "large weather-worn block of stone standing by itself" is from 1813....
sweater
"woolen vest or jersey, originally worn in rowing," 1882, from earlier sweaters "clothing worn to produce sweating and reduce...
shawl
1660s, originally of an article of dress worn in Asia, from Urdu and other Indian languages, from Persian shal, sometimes...As the name of an article of clothing worn by Western women, it is recorded from 1767....
bib
linen worn over the breast, especially by children, to keep the front of the dress clean while eating, 1570s, from verb bibben...If the latter, it is difficult now to say whether this is because it was worn while drinking or because it "soaked up" spills...
decay
late 15c., "to decrease," also "to decline, deteriorate, lose strength or excellence," from Anglo-French decair, Old North French decair (Old French decheoir, 12c., Modern French déchoir) "to fall, set (of the sun), weaken, decline, decay," from Vulgar Latin *decadere "to fall of
fatigue
1660s, "that which causes weariness," from French fatigue "weariness," from fatiguer "to tire" (15c.), from Latin fatigare "to weary, to tire out," originally "to cause to break down," from pre-Latin adjective *fati-agos "driving to the point of breakdown," with first half from O
assume
early 15c., "to arrogate, take upon oneself," from Latin assumere, adsumere "to take up, take to oneself, take besides, obtain in addition," from ad "to, toward, up to" (see ad-) + sumere "to take," from sub "under" (see sub-) + emere "to take" (from PIE root *em- "to take, distr

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