ern

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːn/
• (US) enPR: ûrn, IPA^(key): /ɝn/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
• Homophones: earn, erne, urn

Etymology 1

Alteration of erne.

Noun

ern (plural erns)

1. Alternative spelling of erne

Etymology 2

From Middle English ernen, from Old English irnan, iernan (“to run, move quickly”), metathetic variant of rinnan (“to run”). More at run.

Alternative forms

• earn (Scotland)

Verb

ern (third-person singular simple present erns, present participle erning, simple past and past participle erned)

1. (UK dialectal) To run; flow.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) To (cause to) coagulate; curdle (milk) by adding rennet and applying heat.

Etymology 3

Of obscure origin. Perhaps an alteration of erme, from Middle English ermen, from Old English yrman, ierman. Compare also Old Scots urn, uren. More at erme.

Verb

ern (third-person singular simple present erns, present participle erning, simple past and past participle erned)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To stir with strong emotion; grieve; mourn.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) To pain; torture.
3. (UK dialectal, Scotland) (of the eyes) To cause to water; smart.

Related terms

• erme

Anagrams

• -ner-, -ren, NRE, REN, RNE, ner, ren

Icelandic

Adjective

ern (comparative ernari, superlative ernastur)

1. brisk, active

Declension

Middle English

Alternative forms

• arn, aryn, eerne, eren, erne, eron
• ærn, earn (Early Middle English)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English earn, from Proto-West Germanic *arō, from Proto-Germanic *arô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːrn/, /ɛrn/, /arn/

Noun

ern (plural ernes)

1. eagle (bird of prey)

   Synonym: egle

Descendants

• English: erne
• Scots: earn, ern, erne

References

• “ē̆rn, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Scots

Noun

ern (plural erns)

1. Alternative form of airn

References

• “ern, n.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.