Tern
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tern¹
- /tɜːn/ UK
- /tɝn/ US
Sounds like turn, tarn · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
Via an East Anglian dialect, from some Scandinavian (North Germanic) language, related to Danish terne, Norwegian terne, and Swedish tärna, all from Old Norse þerna (“tern; maidservant”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *þewernā (“handmaid, young girl”). First attested in the 1670s.
noun terns · terne
- Any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sterninae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail.
tern²
- /tɜːn/ UK
- /tɝn/ US
Sounds like turn, tarn · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
PIE word
*tréyes
The noun is derived from Late Middle English terne (“throw of a die or dice showing the number three”), from Old French terne (“gathering of three people; trinity”) (modern French terne), from Latin ternās, the accusative feminine plural of ternī (“three each; three at a time”), from ter (“thrice”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + -ī (from -us (suffix forming adjectives)).
The adjective is either derived from the noun, or directly from Latin ternī (“three each; three at a time”); see above.
noun terns
- A thing with three components; a set of three things.
- A lottery prize resulting from the favourable combination of three numbers in the draw. And yet, now even, if Madonna willed, / She'd win a tern in Thursday's lottery, / And better all things.
adjective
- Consisting of three components; ternate, threefold, triple. tern flowers tern leaves
Tern³
proper noun
- A river in Shropshire, England, which joins the Severn at Atcham; in full, the River Tern.
