kern

¹ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

verb (used with object)

1. to remove a portion of space between (adjacent letters) in preparation for printing.

2. to form or furnish with a kern, as a type or letter.

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noun

1. a part of the face of a type projecting beyond the body or shank, as in certain italic letters.

kern ² American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

noun

Engineering.

1. the central area of any horizontal section of a wall, column, etc., within which the resultant forces of all compressive loads must pass if there is to be only compression at that point.

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kern ³ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

Or kerne

noun

Archaic.

1. a band of lightly armed foot soldiers of ancient Ireland.

2. (in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands) a soldier.

3. an Irish peasant, especially a crude or boorish one.

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kern ⁴ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

verb (used without object)

1. (of a tree or plant) to produce or form kernels, hard grain, or seed.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to granulate, especially to granulate salt.

2. to cover with crystalline grains of salt; salt (meat).

noun

1. Obsolete. a kernel, as of a nut; a grain, as of sand or wheat.

kern ⁵ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

verb (used with or without object)

Scotland and North England.

1. churn.

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kern ⁶ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

noun

Scotland and North England.

1. kirn.

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Kern ⁷ American  

[kurn] / kɜrn /

noun

1. Jerome (David), 1885–1945, U.S. composer.

2. a river in E California, in the Sierra Nevada, flowing S and SW to San Joaquin Valley. 155 miles (249 km) long.

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kern ¹ British  

/ kɜːn /

noun

1. a lightly armed foot soldier in medieval Ireland or Scotland

2. a troop of such soldiers

3. archaic a loutish peasant

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kern ² British  

/ kɜːn /

noun

1. the part of the character on a piece of printer's type that projects beyond the body

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verb

1. (tr) to furnish (a typeface) with a kern

Kern ³ British  

/ kɜːn /

noun

1. Jerome ( David ). 1885–1945, US composer of musical comedies, esp Show Boat (1927)

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kern ⁴ British  

/ kɜːn /

noun

1. engineering the central area of a wall, column, etc, through which all compressive forces pass

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Etymology

Origin of kern¹

First recorded in 1675–85; from French carne “corner of type, nib of a quill pen,” ultimately from Latin cardin- (stem of cardō ) “hinge”

Origin of kern²

From German Kern kernel; kern ⁴

Origin of kern³

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English kerne, kaerne, from Irish ceithern “band of foot soldiers”; cateran

Origin of kern⁴

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English verb kirnen, kerne, keorne, kurne; akin to kirnelen “to develop or grow into seed”; kernel

Explanation

In old-fashioned printing, a kern is the part of metal type that extends beyond the letter's block of type, like the tail of an f or a j. The verb kern comes from the noun. When you move a metal piece of type closer to or farther from its neighbor, you kern. This aesthetic adjustment between the printed letters of a word is very important to designers and typographers, and it's known as kerning. Kern comes from the French carne, "projecting angle," from the Latin root cardinem, or "hinge."

Example Sentences

He put me to work setting type by hand, and taught me how to eyeball the space so the letters would barely kiss, creating the perfect kern.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2022

Ronald kern, Marlborough Connecticut, usa Loss of habitat and biodiversity is probably going to be the end of the world.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2010

These are not illuminating; but "obsolete variant of kern" leads directly to "corn," and to "kernel," of which "cornel" is a disused form.

From Time Magazine Archive

I mind I'd jes kern a-staggerin' ap wiv a big stowne for th' 'ead o' Number Free trench, but Doolally kep me a-markin time till 'e wos ready.

From The Luck of the Mounted A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police by Kendall, Ralph S.

Cried Maclean: "Now a ten-tined buck in the sight of the wife and the child I had killed if the gluttonous kern had not wrought me   a snail's own wrong!"

From Select Poems of Sidney Lanier by Callaway, Morgan