Past participle of ride; having traveled on or been carried by something, or being dominated or afflicted by something undesirable.
From Old English riden, past participle of rīdan meaning 'to ride'. The Germanic root is shared with Dutch rijden and German reiten. The secondary meaning of being 'afflicted with' developed from the metaphor of something 'riding' or weighing upon a person.
The word 'ridden' demonstrates a fascinating shift in English from strong verbs (with vowel changes like ride-rode-ridden) inherited from Germanic languages to the more regular weak verb patterns. When we say someone is 'guilt-ridden' or 'anxiety-ridden', we're using a metaphor where negative emotions are conceptualized as riders controlling or burdening the person.
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