bairn en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- [bɜːɹn] Lancashire, fair–fur merger
- [bɛːn] (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Scotland) audio
- [bɛrn] (Scotland)
- [bɜːn] Lancashire, fair–fur merger
- [bɛəʁn] (Northumbria, rare)
- [bern] (Scotland)
- /ˈbaːn/
- /bɛən/ non-rhotic
- /bɛərn/ rhotic
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots bairn, from Middle English bern, barn, from Old English bearn, from Proto-West Germanic *barn, from Proto-Germanic *barną. Doublet of barn. Compare West Frisian bern.
Meanings
-
(Scotland, qualifier:and parts of Northern England) A child or baby.
She moved about the country like a ghost, gathering herbs in dark loanings, lingering in kirkyairds, and casting a blight on innocent bairns.
1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:Bobby Shaftoe's getten a bairn For to dandle in his arm; In his arm and on his knee, Bobby Shaftoe loves me.
1998, Jonathan Langley, Collins Bedtime Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Tales, Bobby Shaftoe, page 87:They say that a shag is good for an unborn child, they get the circulation of blood, or some shite. The least ah kin dae is take an interest in the bairn’s welfare.
1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 219:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bairns | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
bairnhood · bairnly · shy bairns get nowt · shy bairns get noot · god-bairn gift · bairny · bairnish · bairnie · knave bairn · bairn-time · stepbairn · bairnlike · bairnless
Translations (10)
da barn (child or baby) · stq Bäiden (child or baby) · sv barn (child or baby) · de Baby (child or baby) · frr bjarn (child or baby) · cmn 孩子 (child or baby) · de Kleinkind (child or baby) · fy bern (child or baby) · nb barn (child or baby) · de Kind (child or baby)