firn

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firn

/fɪə(ɹ)n/ UK
/fɪɹn/ US
/fɪəɹn/ US

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)n

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German Firn, from Alemannic German firn (“last year's”), from Old High German firni (“old”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *firnijaz, *fernaz (“foregoing, previous”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, forward, across, through”); cognate with Old English fyrn (“former”), Old Norse forn (“old”), and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fairneis, “old”).

noun firns

countable, uncountable A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles and thus is made of numerous small icy grains, though it is not nearly as saturated with water as snowcone slush is; can be hard or somewhat soft depending on recent and current weather conditions.
Similar: névé

Translations

Every language

noun A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles

Français	névé
Deutsch	Firn
Italiano	nevato
Русский	фирн firn, серён serjón, се́рен séren, серена́ serená, се́рень sérenʹ
العربية	ثَلْج حُبَيْبَي ṯalj ḥubaybay

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MLA

"firn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/firn. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

firn. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/firn

Chicago

"firn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/firn.

BibTeX

@misc{firn_2026,
  title = {firn},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/firn},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}