carven

English

Etymology

From Middle English corven, past participle of kerven (to carve), with the vowel modified to match the present stem. Equivalent to carve + -en (past participle ending). More at carve.

Adjective

carven (not comparable)

  1. Made by carving, especially when intricately or artistically done.
    • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Day-Dream. The Sleeping Palace.”, in Poems. [], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, [], OCLC 1008064829, page 151:
      The beams that thro' the Oriel shine / Make prisms in every carven glass, / And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.
    • 1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maiden of Mars, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
      The facades of the buildings fronting upon the avenue within the wall were richly carven []
    • 1999, Lin Carter, The Quest of Kadji, page 118:
      The architecture was bewildering in its multiform complexity: great, sleepy-lidded faces of stone gazed down from the eight-sided towers; fantastic dragon-hybrids writhed entangled coils above portal and arch; many-armed and beast-headed gods thronged the paven ways, lining entire avenues in rank on rank of carven stone idols so innumerable as to suggest pantheons as populous as dynasties.

Verb

carven

  1. (archaic) past participle of carve.

See also

Anagrams

Middle English

Verb

carven

  1. Alternative form of kerven
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