DictionaryRoot: -en
English
-en
make or become
Forms
- -en
Origin
From old Germanic ways of forming verbs from qualities or states.
Note
The base supplies the change: the ending does not name a specific action by itself.
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verb
frighten
To make someone feel afraid.
Etymology
The verb-forming ending means to cause a state. Frighten therefore means to cause fright in someone, turning the fear noun into an action.