quern
- a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.
Origin of quern
Examples from the Web for quern
Historical Examples of quern
He asked him for heaven's sake to take back the quern, and that at once.
Children's LiteratureCharles Madison Curry
There stood his sisters by the quern, For the high-noon cakes they needs must earn.
Poems by the WayWilliam Morris
"It is the women singing and grinding at the quern," she said, and her feet went faster.
The Basket WomanMary Austin
In the Norse story of Frodi's quern, the myth assumes a whimsical shape.
Myths and Myth-MakersJohn Fiske
This was their rule, that every bishop19 should grind at the quern on his day.
quern
- a stone hand mill for grinding corn
Word Origin for quern
Word Origin and History for quern
Old English cweorn "hand-mill, mill," from PIE *gwere-na- "millstone" (cf. Old Norse kvern, Old Frisian quern, Old High German quirn, Gothic quirnus; Sanskrit grava "crushing stone;" Lithuanian girna "millstone," girnos "hand mills;" Old Church Slavonic zrunuvi "mills;" Welsh brevan "hand mill"), suffixed form of root *gwere- "heavy" (see grave (adj.)).