Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

oaken

/ˈəʊk.ən/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.94 in modern English

Syllables: oak-en
IPA: /ˈəʊk.ən/

9

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Made from the wood of the oak tree. Also in metaphorical uses, suggesting robustness.

Example Sentences

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

Etymology

Inherited 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”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: oken, ācen, *aikīnaz

Phrases

oaken towel

Synonyms

oak roborean roboreous

Rhymes With

broken spoken token woken awoken betoken bespoken wroken

Questions

How do you pronounce oaken?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈəʊk.ən/.
What does oaken mean?: Made from the wood of the oak tree. Also in metaphorical uses, suggesting robustness.
Where does oaken come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce oaken

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “oaken”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈəʊk.ən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “oaken”.
Repeat and practice — Say “oaken” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.