quern

[ kwurn ]

noun

a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.

Origin of quern

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

Words Nearby quern

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

How to use quern in a sentence

I think a prudent reader should pronounce as the judges do—Pater est is quern nuptiæ demonstrant.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
That quern turned out anything that the grinder chose, though formerly it had ground nothing but peace and gold.
The Mysteries of All Nations | James Grant
One summer it happened that the men from quern had killed many deer, while those from Exaluq had caught but a few.
A Treasury of Eskimo Tales | Clara Kern Bayliss
Mysingr took with him the quern, Grotti, with Fenia and Menia, and ordered them to grind salt.
Folk-Lore and Legends; Scandinavian | Various
But angels used to grind at the quern for Ciaran's sake on the day that was his.
The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran | Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for quern

quern

/ (kwɜːn) /

noun

a stone hand mill for grinding corn

Origin of 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

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