dern
English
Pronunciation
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“secret”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”).
Noun
dern (plural derns)
- (obsolete) A secret; secrecy.
- (obsolete) A secret place; hiding.
- (obsolete) An obscure language.
- (obsolete) Darkness; obscurity.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“hidden, secret, retired, obscure, remote, eluding detection, concealed, deceitful, evil, magical”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”).
Adjective
dern (comparative more dern, superlative most dern)
- (obsolete, dialectal) Hidden; secret; private.
- 1659, Dr. H. More, Immortal, of the Soul
- Now with their backs to the den's mouth they sit, / Yet shoulder not all light from the dern pit.
- 1819, J. R. Drake, The Culprit Fay
- Through dreary beds of tangled fern, / Through groves of nightshade dark and dern.
- 1659, Dr. H. More, Immortal, of the Soul
Etymology 3
From Middle English dernen, dærnen, from Old English dyrnan, diernan (“to keep secret, conceal, hide, restrain, repress, hide oneself”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”), from *darnī (“hidden, secret”). Cognate with Old Saxon dernian (“to conceal”), German tarnen (“to camougflage, disguise”). See also darn, tarnish.
Verb
dern (third-person singular simple present derns, present participle derning, simple past and past participle derned)
- (transitive, obsolete) To hide; secrete, as in a hole.
- 1865, Hugh Miller, My schools and schoolmasters
- He at length escaped them by derning himself in a fox-earth.
- 1865, Hugh Miller, My schools and schoolmasters
- (intransitive, obsolete) To hide oneself; skulk.
- 1584, Thomas Hudson, Judith
- But look how soon they heard of Holoferne / Their courage quail'd, and they began to derne.
- 1584, Thomas Hudson, Judith
Related terms
Etymology 4
Uncertain.
Noun
dern (plural derns)
- (UK) A gatepost or doorpost.
- 1855, Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho!, Ch. XIV, How Salvation Yeo Slew the King of the Gubbings
- So I just put my eye between the wall and the dern of the gate, and I saw him come up to the back door […]
- 1855, Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho!, Ch. XIV, How Salvation Yeo Slew the King of the Gubbings
Anagrams
Old Irish
Verb
·dern
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)n
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)n/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰer-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English lemmas
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- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English adjectives
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- Old Irish non-lemma forms
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- Old Irish terms prefixed with ro-