Etymology From Middle English erthen, urthen, from Old English eorþen, yrþen, ierþen (“made of earth”), from Proto-Germanic *irþīnaz. Cognate with Dutch aarden (“earthen”), German irden (“earthen”). By surface analysis, earth + -en (“made of”).
1
Made of earth or mud.
1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans A hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake […]
But transects have also been utilised in a large variety of arenas, including surveying the contents of Amerindian earthen mounds[.]2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:
2
Especially, Of pottery Made of clay.
1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation ... the Godfathers and Godmothers follow into the midst of the Church, where there is a small table ready set, and on it an earthen pot ful of warme water, […]
Will they be yours when one by one these earthen / Delights and comforts and all beauties wane? / Will they be found laid up above, illumined?1903, Maria Lydia Winkler, From Glory to Glory; Or, The Christian's Glorious Ministry, page 228:
Their inter-tillage operations, earthening-up of some crops and tillage in orchard/gardens or plantation crops, are stated below, under special cropping system in different situations.2017, N.R. Das, Tillage and Crop Production, 2nd Ed., page 104:
2
to make earthly or earthlike
It deadens,—or earthens—the spirit in both directions.1919, The Improvement Era, volume 23, page 191: