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quern

American  
[kwurn] / kwɜrn /

noun

  1. a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.


quern British  
/ kwɜːn /

noun

  1. a stone hand mill for grinding corn

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of quern

before 950; Middle English; Old English cweorn; akin to Old Norse kvern hand-mill

Vocabulary lists containing quern

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The whole thing, as Hibbert says, forcibly reminds one of the old Norse superstition of the Quern Song.

From Witch Stories by Linton, E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn)

Quern uocis iactum Roluo perinde ac inclytum sibi cognomen amplexus, urbanitatem dicti ingentis armill� dono prosequitur.

From Beowulf An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn by Chambers, R. W.

They spoil and make fools of themselves: "Humani qualis simulator simius oris, Quern puer arridens pretioso stamine serum Velavit, nudasque nates ac terga reliquit, Ludibrium mensis."

From The Essays of Montaigne — Complete by Montaigne, Michel de

The names of the houses were Quern and Exaluq.

From A Treasury of Eskimo Tales by Carlson, George

Darius is the person addressed:— —Quò tendis inertem, Rex periture, fugam? nescis, heu! perdite, nescis Quern fugias: hostes incurris dum fugis hostem; Incidis in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.

From Life of Johnson, Volume 4 1780-1784 by Boswell, James