quern

[ kwurn ]

/ kwɜrn /

noun

a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.

Words nearby quern

quercine, quercitannic acid, quercitol, quercitron, querist, quern, quernstone, quersprung, querulous, query, query language

Origin of quern

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for quern

The grains, blackened like coal, were picked off the floor with the hand and placed in the quern.
The Historical Child|Oscar Chrisman
When dry it is pounded into small pieces mixed with corn, and ground into meal on the hand-mill or quern.
Notes and Queries, Number 229, March 18, 1854|Various
There stood his sisters by the quern, For the high-noon cakes they needs must earn.
Poems by the Way|William Morris
He had only to speak the word, and the quern ground out what he wanted.
Folk Tales Every Child Should Know|Various

"There, you see what has gotten me all this wealth;" and so he made the quern grind all kind of things.
Folk Tales Every Child Should Know|Various

British Dictionary definitions for quern

quern

/ (kwɜːn) /

noun

a stone hand mill for grinding corn

Word Origin for quern

Old English cweorn; related to Old Frisian quern, Old High German kurn, Old Norse kverna, Gothic quairnus millstone

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