Tern
Sponsored by Abigail GawithCame first in group 868 in round 1 with 282 votesbeat Carnaptious on 232 votesbeat Defer on 124 votesbeat Rental on 17 votes
Came third in group 217 in round 2 with 111 votesbeaten by Lollop on 611 votesbeaten by Expeditious on 169 votesbeat Gap on 28 votes
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tûrn, IPA(key): /tɜːn/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) enPR: tûrn, IPA(key): /tɝn/
Audio (GA) (file) - Homophones: turn, tarn
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
Etymology 1[edit]
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”),[1] ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *þewernā (“handmaid, young girl”). First attested in the 1670s.
Noun[edit]
tern (plural terns)
- Any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sternidae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail.
Alternative forms[edit]
- terne (obsolete, 17th c.)
Hyponyms[edit]
- arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea)
- black tern (Chlidonias niger)
- bridled tern
- Cabot's tern
- Caspian tern
- commic tern
- common tern (Sterna hirundo)
- crested tern (Thalasseus bergii)
- Forster's tern
- greater crested tern (Thalasseus bergii)
- gull-billed tern
- hooded tern (Sterna minuta)
- least tern
- lesser crested tern
- little tern
- marsh tern
- river tern
- roseate tern
- rosy tern
- royal tern
- sandwich tern
- Sandwich tern
- sooty tern
- swift tern (Thalasseus bergii)
- whiskered tern
- white-winged tern
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
- sea swallow (“common tern”) (one sense)
Etymology 2[edit]
PIE word |
---|
*tréyes |
The noun is derived from Late Middle English terne (“throw of a die or dice showing the number three”),[2] from Old French terne (“gathering of three people; trinity”) (modern French terne), from Latin ternās,[3] 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”);[3] see above.
Noun[edit]
tern (plural terns)
- (dated or obsolete) A thing with three components; a set of three things.
- (gambling, dated) A lottery prize resulting from the favourable combination of three numbers in the draw.
- 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Seventh Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 319:
- And yet, now even, if Madonna willed, / She'd win a tern in Thursday's lottery, / And better all things.
- (gambling, dated) A lottery prize resulting from the favourable combination of three numbers in the draw.
Translations[edit]
Adjective[edit]
tern (not comparable)
- (chiefly botany, rare) Consisting of three components; ternate, threefold, triple.
- Synonyms: ternary, treble, trine; see also Thesaurus:triple
- tern flowers; tern leaves
- a tern schooner, one with three masts
Coordinate terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ “tern, n.1”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “tern1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “terne, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Compare “tern, adj. and n.2”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2019; “tern2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading[edit]
- tern on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- tern (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Category:Sternidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- Sternidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
Anagrams[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Learned borrowing from Latin ternus.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tern m (plural terns)
- set of three, trio
- matching three-piece suit
Further reading[edit]
- “tern” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Middle English[edit]
Verb[edit]
tern
- Alternative form of teren
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
tern m or n (feminine singular ternă, masculine plural terni, feminine and neuter plural terne)
- (literary) matte, lackluster, dull (lacking gloss)
- (figurative) colorless, pale (lacking color or contrast)