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-ern. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
-ern, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
-ern in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
-ern you have here. The definition of the word
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-ern, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
In form, from Middle English -erne, -ern, -ren, -ron (northern(e), northron, so(u)thern(e), sothron, etc), from Old English -erne (norþerne, etc), from Proto-Germanic *-r- (probably from rebracketing of *nurþrōnijaz etc) + *-ōnijaz, whence also Old High German -rōni, Old Saxon -rōni, Old Norse -rǿnn / Old Norse -ǿnn. In practice, possibly a back-formation from northern, southern, etc.
(Contrast the -ern in hāliġern, etc., which is related to ærn (“place”).)
Suffix
-ern
- (nonstandard outside fossilized words) Added to the names of directions to form adjectives.
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Further reading
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Suffix
-ern
- (now rarely productive) iterative suffix, used to form verbs from other verbs
- Synonym: -eln
- used to form verbs from nouns, often with an additional prefix
- be- + Weihrauch (“incense”) + -ern → beweihräuchern (“to incense”)
Etymology 2
Extended form of -en, generalised from such forms as silbern, kupfern, ledern, originally also eisern, in which -er is part of the stem.
Suffix
-ern
- made of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
- Glas (“glass”) + -ern → gläsern (“glassen”)
Etymology 3
-ern
- Dative plural suffix for nouns that form the plural in -er (with or without Umlaut) or whose plural form (not root) already ends in -er.
- der Mann - den Männern
- der Rechner - den Rechnern
Derived terms
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English -ern, from ærn (“place”).
Suffix
-ern
- Denotes a place related to the noun it attaches to
Etymology 2
From Old English -erne.
Suffix
-ern
- Alternative form of -erne
Descendants
Old English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From the adjectival use of -ærn (“noun suffix denoting location”), from ærn (“place”).
Alternative forms
Suffix
-ern
- Suffix meaning "a place".
- hāliġ (“holy”) + -ern → hāliġern (“sanctuary, holy place”)
Declension
Declension of -ern (strong a-stem)
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
Variant of -erne.
Suffix
-ern
- Suffix meaning "toward a place"; alternative form of -erne
Descendants