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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

tern en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /tɝn/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • tûrn (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /tɜːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • tûrn (General-American)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

  1. 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.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
terns Number=Plur lexicographic
terne alternative lexicographic

Deriveds

ternery

Hyponyms

roseate tern · Forster's tern · marsh tern · least tern · commic tern · white-winged tern · hooded tern · lesser crested tern · white tern · angel tern · Cabot's tern · common tern · Caspian tern · swift tern · fairy tern · Wilson's tern · crested tern · arctic tern · black tern · bridled tern · greater crested tern · whiskered tern · sooty tern · sandwich tern · rosy tern · gull-billed tern · river tern · little tern · royal tern · Sandwich tern

Relateds

sea swallow

Translations (68)

de Seeschwalbe (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · eo ŝterno (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ro rândunică-de-mare (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · de Meerschwalbe (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · es fumarel (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gv gant cadjin (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gd steàrnal (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ar خَرْشَنَة (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ka ⴒⴄⴐⴌⴈ (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · io alcedo (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ast garrochín (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · bg морска лястовица (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ca xatrac (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · mkj pares (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · sk rybár (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · tiw wujirrini (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gv gollan marrey (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ast chirri (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · tiw martapaka (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gd steàrnan (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · pl rybitwa (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gl carrán (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · hu csér (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · pt andorinha-do-mar (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · la larus (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · fo terna (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · nl stern (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · nrf daûtchet (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · fi tiira (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ja アジサシ (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · nv tónteel táshchozhii (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · el στέρνα (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · cy môr-wennol (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · mzn اسپریک (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · nn terne (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · fr sterne (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · cs rybák (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · fy stirns (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · wim oopal (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · sh mòrska lȁstavica (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ru кра́чка (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ab аԥсаатә (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · tr deniz kırlangıcı (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · uk кря́чок (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · cy morwennol (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · sh čȉgra (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ko 제비갈매기 (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · es gaviotín (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · is þerna (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gd steàrnag (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · grc κήξ (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · gv gant Arctagh (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ka ტერნი (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ast carranclín (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · it sterna (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · pt gaivina (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · da terne (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ga scréachóg thrá (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · cmn 海鷗 /海鸥 (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · vo melasval (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · tr balıkçın (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · sl čígra (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · nb terne (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · sv tärna (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · kk қырқылдақ (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · es charrán (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · ga geabhróg (bird of the subfamily Sternidae) · la sterna (bird of the subfamily Sternidae)

tern en · ADJ · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /tɝn/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • tûrn (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /tɜːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • tûrn (General-American)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable, rare) Consisting of three components; ternate, threefold, triple.
    • tern flowers    tern leaves
    • a tern schooner, one with three masts

Coordinates

quine · quatern

Synonyms

tern · ternary · trine · triple · ternary · trine · treble · threefold · trinary · treble · triadic

tern en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /tɝn/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • tûrn (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /tɜːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • tûrn (General-American)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

  1. (dated, obsolete) A thing with three components; a set of three things.
  2. (dated, obsolete) 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. 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Seventh Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 319:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
terns Number=Plur lexicographic