Ernest

See also: ernest

English

Etymology

Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɜː(ɹ)nɪst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: Earnest, earnest

Proper noun

Ernest

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages; popular in the 19th century.
   • 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act I]:

     GWENDOLEN. […] and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.

   • 1980, P. D. James, Innocent Blood:

     "What's his name, your boyfriend?" "Ernest. Ernest Hemingway." The name was received in disparaging silence. Marlene said: "You wouldn't get me going out with a feller called Ernest. My granddad was Ernest."

2. A surname.

Related terms

• pet form: Ernie
• female given name: Ernestine

Translations

given name

• Bengali: আর্নেস্ট (arnesṭ)
• Carpathian Rusyn: Ерне́ст m (Ernést)
• Catalan: Ernest (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 歐內斯特／欧内斯特 (Ōunèisītè)

• Czech: Arnošt m
• Danish: Ernst
• Dutch: Ernst (nl)
• Esperanto: Ernesto
• Finnish: Ernesti (fi), Erno (fi)
• French: Ernest (fr)
• Galician: Ernesto (gl) m
• German: Ernst (de)
• Greek: Ερνέστος (el) (Ernéstos)
• Hungarian: Ernő (hu)
• Irish: Earnán
• Italian: Ernesto (it)
• Latin: Ernestus (la) m
• Latvian: Ernests
• Lithuanian: Ernestas (lt)
• Marathi: अर्नेस्ट m (arnesṭa)
• Norwegian: Ernst (no)
• Polish: Ernest (pl) m
• Portuguese: Ernesto (pt) m
• Romanian: Ernest m
• Russian: Эрне́ст (ru) m (Ernɛ́st), Эрнст (ru) m (Ernst)
• Spanish: Ernesto (es)
• Swedish: Ernst (sv)

Anagrams

• Enters, Senter, enters, entres, nester, renest, rentes, resent, sterne, strene, tenser, treens

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”).

Proper noun

Ernest m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Ernest

French

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ernst.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛʁ.nɛst/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Ernest m

1. a male given name

Anagrams

• entres, entrés
• rentes, rentés
• sterne
• ternes

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Ernest m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Ernest

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ernst, from Middle High German ernest, from Old High German ernust, from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛr.nɛst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrnɛst
• Syllabification: Er‧nest

Proper noun

Ernest m pers (female equivalent Ernestyna, diminutive Erneścik)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Ernest

Declension

Declension of Ernest

	singular	plural
nominative	Ernest	Ernestowie
genitive	Ernesta	Ernestów
dative	Ernestowi	Ernestom
accusative	Ernesta	Ernestów
instrumental	Ernestem	Ernestami
locative	Erneście	Ernestach
vocative	Erneście	Ernestowie

Further reading

• Ernest in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Slovak

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛrnɛst/

Proper noun

Ernest m anim (genitive singular Ernesta, nominative plural Ernestovia, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name

Declension

Declension of Ernest

	singular	plural
nominative	Ernest	Ernestovia
genitive	Ernesta	Ernestov
dative	Ernestovi	Ernestom
accusative	Ernesta	Ernestov
locative	Ernestovi	Ernestoch
instrumental	Ernestom	Ernestmi

Derived terms

• Ernestko
• Erno
• Ero, Erko
• Erino, Erinko

Further reading

• “Ernest”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024