quern
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of quern
before 950; Middle English; Old English cweorn; akin to Old Norse kvern hand-mill
Vocabulary lists containing quern
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We have a quern stone for grinding flour for bread. We've got pottery and glass for eating and drinking" says Dr Andy Seaman.
From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025
Finding a quern stone in an expected spot raises the hairs on the back of his neck—“as if I had been communicating directly with the people who buried it”.
From Economist • Nov. 13, 2014
In some places to-day we still find the ancient quern or hand-mill, jocularly called an armstrong-machine.
From Our Southern Highlanders by Kephart, Horace
Blanid, kneeling by the quern between the window and the door, and commencing to grind grain.
From King Lear's Wife; The Crier by Night; The Riding to Lithend; Midsummer-Eve; Laodice and Dana? by Bottomley, Gordon
When dry it is pounded into small pieces mixed with corn, and ground into meal on the hand-mill or quern.
From Notes and Queries, Number 229, March 18, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
