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kirn. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
kirn, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
kirn in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
kirn you have here. The definition of the word
kirn will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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Scots
Etymology 1
From Middle English kyrne; compare Old Norse kirna (“churn”).[1]
Noun
kirn (plural kirns)
- a churn
Verb
kirn (third-person singular simple present kirns, present participle kirnin, simple past kirnt, past participle kirnt)
- to churn (as milk into butter)
1855, Hew Ainslie, “Croon to a Kyle cow”, in Scottish Songs, Ballads, and Poems, page 149:Be it warm / Be it cauld / Be it cream’d / Be it kirn’d […] / It’s welcome aye to Jock- Whether it’s warm or cold, creamed or churned, is indeed welcome to Jock
- to churn up, stir, mix
kirn with the pistle and mortar- mix with a mortar and pestle
Etymology 2
Uncertain. Perhaps from Old English cyrnel (“kernel, grain”), with meaning shifted or broadened from the seed to the whole crop plant. Compare curn (“a grain, a particle”).[3]
Noun
kirn (plural kirns)
- a celebration to mark the end of the harvest season; (by extension) an ending or farewell celebration
- Synonym: foy
- the last sheaf or bit of corn harvested
See also
- clyack (“the last sheaf harvested; the end of the harvest”)
- hare (“the last sheaf harvested”)
- maiden (“the last sheaf harvested, plaited and decorated with ribbons”)
References
- ^ “kirn, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
- ^ “kirn, n.1, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
- ^ “kirn, n.2”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.