oaken

From Middle English oken (also eken), from Old English ācen, ǣċen (“of oak”), from Proto-Germanic *aikīnaz, equivalent to oak +‎ -en (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Dutch eiken (“oaken”), German eichen (“oaken”), Icelandic eikinn (“oaken”).

• enPR: ōk'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈəʊk.ən/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -əʊkən

oaken (not comparable)

1. Made from the wood of the oak tree. Also in metaphorical uses, suggesting robustness.
   • 1891, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Blue Pavilions:

     Captain Jemmy, taking up three bottles one after another and finding them all empty, ordered up three more, and drew his chair up to the hearth, where he sat kicking the oaken logs viciously with his long legs.

   • 2025 December 21, Mark Sappenfield, “English voters scatter from the center, strengthening extremes”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     His knuckles are tattooed, his hands the oaken tools of the boxer he still is, now as a coach.

• Kanoé, Keano