-ern

See also: ern, ERN, and Ern

English

Etymology

In form, from Middle English -erne, -ern, -ren, -ron (northern(e), northron, so(u)thern(e), sothron, etc), from Old English -erne (norþerne, etc), from Proto-Germanic *-r- (probably from rebracketing of *nurþrōnijaz etc) + *-ōnijaz, whence also Old High German -rōni, Old Saxon -rōni, Old Norse -rœnn / Old Norse -œnn. In practice, possibly a back-formation from northern, southern, etc.

(Contrast the -ern in hāligern, etc, which is related to ærn (“place”).)

Suffix

-ern

1. (nonstandard outside fossilized words) Added to the names of directions to form adjectives.

Derived terms

• leftern, rightern

Related terms

• northern, eastern, southern, western
• northron, southron, westron

Further reading

• “-ern”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

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

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [-ɐn]

• Audio

  (file)

Suffix

-ern

1. (not productive anymore) iterative suffix, used to form verbs from other verbs
2. used (always together with a prefix) to form verbs from nouns

   ‎be- + ‎Weihrauch (“incense”) + ‎-ern → ‎beweihräuchern (“to incense”)

3. made of (used to form adjectives from nouns)

   ‎Glas (“glass”) + ‎-ern → ‎gläsern (“glassen”)

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -ern

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English -ern, from ærn (“place”).

Suffix

-ern

1. Denotes a place related to the noun it attaches to

Etymology 2

From Old English -erne.

Suffix

-ern

1. Alternative form of -erne

Descendants

• English: -ern

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Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ern/, [erˠn]

Etymology 1

From adjectival use of -ærn (“noun suffix denoting location”), from ærn (“place”).

Alternative forms

• -ærn

Suffix

-ern

1. Suffix meaning "a place".

   ‎hāliġ (“holy”) + ‎-ern → ‎hāligern (“sanctuary, holy place”)

Descendants

• Middle English: -ern

Etymology 2

Variant of -erne.

Suffix

-ern

1. Suffix meaning "toward a place"; alternative form of -erne

Descendants

• Middle English: -erne, -ern
  • English: -ern