bairn

[bairn, beyrn]

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a child; son or daughter.

bairn

/ bern, bɛən /

noun

1. a child

Word History and Origins

Origin of bairn¹

before 900; Middle English bern, barn, Old English bearn; cognate with Gothic, Old Norse, Old High German, Old Saxon, barn, Old Frisian bern, Middle Dutch baren, Albanian me barrë pregnant; akin to Lithuanian bérnas boy, fellow, bear ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bairn¹

Old English bearn ; related to bearm lap, Old Norse, Old High German barn child

Example Sentences

"My dogs were better fed than some of the bairns running in the streets," Mr Shand says.

Read more on BBC

In their two league meetings last season, the bairns from Gorgie came out on top.

Read more on BBC

"If I hadn't seen the pictures of the bairns, I wouldn't be sitting with you now, and I just looked at them and thought, 'God, I can't leave them bairns'," she says.

Read more on BBC

"If the police had done their jobs in the first place and Nikki had got justice I might have had some kind of life with my bairns and grandbairns," she said.

Read more on BBC

He recalled that officers met a woman in the street in a "distressed state" who cried out "Oh God! It's the bairn, they've found the bairn" at about 10:30 on 8 October.

Read more on BBC

When To Use

What does bairn mean?

Bairn is a Scottish or Northern English word for child.