ern

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

Alteration of erne.

ern (plural erns)

1. Alternative spelling of erne.

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

• earn (Scotland)

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.

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.

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.

• erme

• ner, NER, ren, NRE, -ren, RNE, Ren, ENR, -ner-, REN

From Old Norse ern, from Proto-Germanic *arniz (“serious; diligent”).

• IPA^(key): /ɛ(r)t⁽ʰ⁾n/
• Rhymes: -ɛrtn

ern (comparative ernari, superlative ernastur)

1. brisk, active (of an older person)

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “ern”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “ern” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

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

From Old English earn.

• IPA^(key): /ɛːrn/, /ɛrn/, /arn/

ern (plural ernes)

1. eagle (bird of prey)

   Synonym: egle

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

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

• IPA^(key): /ern/, [erˠn]

ern f

1. alternative form of ærn

Strong a-stem:

ern (plural erns)

1. alternative form of airn

• “ern, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.