George Stimpson

Got and gotten are merely different forms of the past participle of the verb to get and are often used interchangeably. In a general way, however, got is preferred in British and gotten in American usage. Gotten dates back at least to the fifteenth century and was an accepted form in England for two centuries. In the course of time it was superseded by got and became virtually obsolete in England. Gotten was used more often than got in the King James Version of the Bible (16ii), which followed the older style; but got was used more often than gotten by Shakespeare, who followed the style of his time. Meanwhile the language had been introduced into America and the older form prevailed on this side of the Atlantic. At one time it appeared as if got would supersede gotten in America also. The edition of Noah Websters dictionary published in 1864, de­clared [page 61] gotten to be "obsolescent." But use of this form was revived and it ultimately prevailed in the United States. The English retain the older form in ill-gotten, although they have abandoned it in forgot and most other combinations including the past participle of get. Forgotten and forgot went through virtually the same stages as gotten and got separately. Except in one instance forgotten is used to the exclusion of forgot in the King James Version, while in Shakespeare forgot occurs much more frequently than forgotten.