Adjacent Words

Quern definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUERN, n.
A hand-mill for grinding grain; a mill, the stone of which was turned by hand, used before the invention of windmills and watermills.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a primitive stone mill for grinding corn by hand

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cweorn; akin to Old High German quirn hand mill, Old Church Slavic žr?ny Date: before 12th century a primitive hand mill for grinding grain

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a hand-mill for grinding corn. 2 a small hand-mill for pepper etc. Phrases and idioms: quern-stone a millstone. Etymology: OE cweorn(e) f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quern Quern, n. [AS. cweorn, cwyrn; akin to D. kweern, OHG. quirn, Icel. kvern, Sw. qvarn, Dan. qu[ae]rn, Goth. qairnus (in asiluqa['i]rnus), Lith. q[`i]rnos, and perh. E. corn.] A mill for grinding grain, the upper stone of which was turned by hand; -- used before the invention of windmills and watermills. --Shak. They made him at the querne grind. --Chaucer.