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gooden

English · Thesaurus

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gooden¹

Where it comes from

From good + -en. Compare Middle English goden, godien (“to make good, become good, endow with goods”), from Old English gōdian (“to improve, get better; make better; endow, enrich”). More at good.

verb goodens · goodening · goodened

  1. transitive To make good; improve; better; perfect. For many years we have endeavored to comprehend how a/b could transform highly intelligent and in many respects 'model' girls and women (and sometimes boys and men) into unwitting bystanders and accomplices to their own torture and impending death while remaining convinced that they are being perfec
  2. intransitive To become good.
  3. UK, dialectal, intransitive To grow; improve; prosper.

gooden²

Where it comes from

Back-formation from goodening, an alteration of gooding (“to receive goods or goodies”), believed to be derived from goody or perhaps a survival of Middle English goden, godien (“to make good, become good, endow with goods”), from Old English gōdian (“to improve, get better; make better; endow, enrich”). Alternative etymology derives this term from earlier hoodening, hodening perhaps a corruption of Woden (“Odin”).

verb goodens · goodening · goodened

  1. dialectal, intransitive To perambulate, usually town to town, collecting alms, gifts, or small gratuities before Christmas-time, usually on St. Thomas's Day. Phoebe, in support of a good old Sussex custom, regularly, on St. Thomas's Day, December 21st, went out "Goodening," visiting well-to-do parishioners, to gossip upon the past, over hot elderberry wine and plum cake, and to receive doles, either in money or materials, [...]

    Similar: mump

Gooden³

proper noun Goodens

  1. A surname.

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Cite this
MLA

"gooden." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gooden. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gooden. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gooden

Chicago

"gooden." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gooden.

BibTeX
@misc{gooden_2026,
  title = {gooden},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gooden},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}