## Meanings
1. Decayed and no longer fit to eat or use, especially of food.
2. In a state of decay; soft and falling apart.
3. Very bad or unpleasant.
4. Cruel, mean, or unkind.
5. To an extreme degree; thoroughly.

## Examples
- The apples at the bottom of the basket had gone rotten.
- The old wooden floorboards were rotten and unsafe.
- We had rotten weather for the whole holiday.
- It was a rotten thing to say to your sister.
- Their grandparents spoil the kids rotten.

## Synonyms
- bad
- maggoted
- spoiled

## Antonyms
- edible
- fresh
- unspoiled

## Derived Forms
- rottened
- rottenish
- rottenly
- rottenness
- rottenstone
- unrotten

## Related Forms
- fermented
- saprogenic
- stale

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: roten
- Root: rotinn
- Root: *rutāną

## Etymology
From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle).

## AI Etymology
Rotten comes from Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle). Modern senses include decayed and no longer fit to eat or use, especially of food. and in a state of decay; soft and falling apart.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as rottened, rottenish, rottenly, rottenness, rottenstone, and unrotten and related forms such as fermented, saprogenic, and stale.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Food & Drink

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