quern

American

[kwurn] / kwɜrn /

noun

a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.

quern British

/ kwɜːn /

noun

a stone hand mill for grinding corn

"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

Etymology

Origin of quern

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

Vocabulary lists containing quern

Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q

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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.

When you return from your errand you will find me at my post near the entrance of the churchyard in front of Saint Michael's le Quern; that is, if I am not beaten from it.

From Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire by Ainsworth, William Harrison

"Quern deus vult perdere, prius dementat, Ponsonby, my boy."

From The Winds of the World by Mundy, Talbot

One summer it happened that the men from Quern had killed many deer, while those from Exaluq had caught but a few.

From A Treasury of Eskimo Tales by Carlson, George

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023