warn
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology 1
Old English warnian, from Proto-Germanic *warnōnan. Cognate with German warnen.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
warn (third-person singular simple present warns, present participle warning, simple past and past participle warned)
- (transitive) To make (someone) aware of impending danger etc. [from 11th c.]
- We waved a flag to warn the oncoming traffic.
- (transitive) To caution (someone) against unwise or unacceptable behaviour. [from 11th c.]
- He was warned against crossing the railway tracks at night.
- Don't let me catch you running in the corridor again, I warn you.
- (transitive) To notify (someone) of something untoward. [from 13th c.]
- I phoned to warn him of the rail strike.
- (intransitive) To give warning.
- 1526, William Tyndale, tr. Bible, Galatians II, 9-10:
- then Iames Cephas and Iohn [...] agreed with vs that we shuld preache amonge the Hethen and they amonge the Iewes: warnynge only that we shulde remember the poore.
- 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, Penguin 1995, p. 177:
- She is his deepest innocence in spaces of bough and hay before wishes were given a different name to warn that they might not come true [...].
- 1988, Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses, Picador 2000, p. 496:
- She warned that he was seriously thinking of withdrawing his offer to part the waters, ‘so that all you'll get at the Arabian Sea is a saltwater bath [...]’.
- 1991, Clive James, ‘Making Programmes the World Wants’, The Dreaming Swimmer, Jonathan Cape 1992:
- Every country has its resident experts who warn that imported television will destroy the national consciousness and replace it with Dallas, The Waltons, Star Trek and Twin Peaks.
- 1526, William Tyndale, tr. Bible, Galatians II, 9-10:
[edit] Translations
to make someone aware of impending danger
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to notify someone of something untoward
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[edit] Usage notes
- The intransitive sense is considered colloquial by some, and is explicitly proscribed by, for example, the Daily Telegraph style guide (which prefers give warning).
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Etymology 2
From a combination of Old English wiernan (from Proto-Germanic *warnijanan; compare Danish værne) and Old English wearnian (from Proto-Germanic *warnōnan; compare Swedish varna).
[edit] Verb
warn (third-person singular simple present warns, present participle warning, simple past and past participle warned)
- (obsolete) To refuse, deny (someone something).
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XVI:
- And if that thou warne hir love she shal dy anone – if thou have no pite on her.
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XVI:
