Dictionary

kernish en · ADJ

Etymology

From kern + -ish, from kern (“a boor”).

Meanings

1. (obsolete) clownish; boorish
   • Ireland […] was once the conqueſt of one ſingle Earl with his private forces, and the ſmall aſſiſtance of a petty Kerniſh Prince, 1642, John Milton, The Reason of Church-Government Urg’d against Prelaty; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, pages 218–219:

Forms