warn

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warn^¹

/wɔːn/ UK
/woːn/ Australia, British, New Zealand
/woɹn/ US
/wɔɾn/ Scotland
/wɔːn/
/wɒn/ Eastern New England

Sounds like worn (horse–hoarse merger) · Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)n

Where it comes from

From Middle English warnen, warnien (“to warn; admonish”), from Old English warnian (“to take heed; warn”), from Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn; take heed”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to be aware; give heed”). Cognate with Dutch waarnen (obsolete), German Low German warnen, German warnen, Swedish varna, Icelandic varna.

verb warns · warning · warned

transitive To make (someone) aware of impending danger, evil, etc. We waved a flag to warn the oncoming traffic about the accident.
Similar: foretoken
transitive To notify or inform (someone, about something). I warned him he'd be getting a huge box of birthday presents from me.
transitive To summon (someone) to or inform of a formal meeting or duty. The sheriff warned her to appear in court.
ambitransitive, obsolete, possibly, transitive, of a clock To make a sound (e.g. clicking or whirring) indicating that it is about to strike or chime (an hour). Hark! the clock is warning ten;
transitive To caution or admonish (someone) against unwise or unacceptable behaviour. He was warned against crossing the railway tracks at night.
with "off" To advise or order to go or stay away. A sign warns trespassers off/away from the site.
intransitive To give warning. then Iames Cephas and Iohn [...] agreed with vs that we shuld preache amonge the Hethen and they amonge the Iewes: warnynge only that we shulde remember the poore.

Warn^²

proper noun Warns

A surname.

WARN^³

proper noun

US, abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: admonish, discourage, cautioned, caution, beware, notify, notice, vigilance, aviso, alert, remind, forewarn, advise, detect, inform, tell

Translations

Every language

verb to make someone aware of impending danger

Español	alertar, avisar, advertir, aldabear, amonestar
한국어	경고하다 gyeonggohada
日本語	警告する keikoku suru, 言い聞かせる iikikaseru
中文	警告 jǐnggào, 提醒 tíxǐng, 警戒 jǐngjiè
हिन्दी	चेताना cetānā
Kiswahili	onya
Português	avisar, alertar, advertir
Français	avertir, alerter
Deutsch	warnen, mahnen
Italiano	avvertire, avvisare
Ελληνικά	προειδοποιώ proeidopoió
Română	avertiza, alerta
Русский	предупрежда́ть predupreždátʹ, предупреди́ть predupredítʹ, предостерега́ть predosteregátʹ, предостере́чь predosteréčʹ
Tiếng Việt	cảnh báo
العربية	حَذَّرَ ḥaḏḏara

verb to notify someone of something

Kiswahili	ashiria
Français	prévenir
Deutsch	warnen
Ελληνικά	προειδοποιώ proeidopoió
Русский	предупрежда́ть predupreždátʹ, предупреди́ть predupredítʹ

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{warn_2026,
  title = {warn},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/warn},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}