Norn

[ nawrn ]

/ nɔrn /

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noun

an extinct Norse dialect, spoken until early modern times in the Shetland and Orkney Islands and in parts of northern Scotland.

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Origin of Norn

<Old Norse norrœnn, earlier northrœnn Norwegian, literally, northern

Words nearby Norn

normie, normo-, normocyte, normotensive, normovolemia, Norn, nornicotine, Norodom Sihanouk, norovirus, Norplant, Norridge

Other definitions for Norn (2 of 2)

Norn²

[ nawrn ]

/ nɔrn /

noun Scandinavian Mythology.

any of three goddesses of fate, the goddess of the past (Urd ), the goddess of the present (Verdandi ), and the goddess of the future (Skuld ).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Norn in a sentence

A luckless Norn in times of old decreed, that in the water I should wade.
The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson|Saemund Sigfusson and Snorre Sturleson
The Norn scene is as purely theatrical as anything he wrote; the atmosphere is, so to speak, artificially weird.
Richard Wagner|John F. Runciman
Gud and Rosta, and the youngest norn, Skuld, always ride to sway the battle and choose the slain.
The Younger Edda|Snorre
But there are indeed many other Norns, for when a man is born there is a Norn to determine his fate.
Cultus Arborum|Anonymous

The first Norn unwound from her waist a golden rope and tied one end of it to a branch of the fir tree.
Operas Every Child Should Know|Mary Schell Hoke Bacon

British Dictionary definitions for Norn (1 of 2)

Norn¹

/ (nɔːn) /

noun

Norse myth any of the three virgin goddesses of fate, who predestine the lives of the gods and men

Word Origin for Norn

C18: Old Norse

British Dictionary definitions for Norn (2 of 2)

Norn²

/ (nɔːn) /

noun

the medieval Norse language of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and parts of N Scotland. It was extinct by 1750

Word Origin for Norn

C17: from Old Norse norŕœna Norwegian, from northr north

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