terne

[ turn ]

noun

Words Nearby terne

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

How to use terne in a sentence

I had to stay and nurse him, the closing time passed and I forgot my dry terne while I was giving him injections.
Brother Jacques (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume XVII) | Charles Paul de Kock
terne, tėrn, n. an inferior tin-plate for roofs and the inside of packing-cases.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) | Various
At the second drawing a terne of forty thousand francs obliged me to borrow money.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete | Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Only the simple drawing, the ambe and the terne to be retained; the quarterne and the quine to be abolished.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete | Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Darwin et Wallace, d'expliquer la couleur terne de certaines espces par slection sexuelle?
The Philosophy of Natural Theology | William Jackson

British Dictionary definitions for terne

terne

/ (tɜːn) /

noun

Also called: terne metal an alloy of lead containing tin (10–20 per cent) and antimony (1.5–2 per cent)
Also called: terne plate steel plate coated with this alloy

Origin of terne

C16: perhaps from French terne dull, from Old French ternir to tarnish

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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