Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

firn

/fɪɹn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.55 in modern English

Syllables
firn
IPA
/fɪɹn/
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles and thus is made of numerous small icy grains, though it is not nearly as saturated with water as snowcone slush is; can be hard or somewhat soft depending on recent and current weather conditions.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from German Firn, from Alemannic German firn (“last year's”), from Old High German firni (“old”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *firnijaz, *fernaz (“foregoing, previous”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, forward, across, through”); cognate with Old English fyrn (“former”), Old Norse forn (“old”), and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fairneis, “old”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /fɪɹn/
  • British English: /fɪə(ɹ)n/

Usage

Inflected Forms

firns (plural)

Derived Forms

firnification

Synonyms

névé

Questions

How do you pronounce firn?
The recorded pronunciation is /fɪɹn/.
What does firn mean?
A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles and thus is made of numerous small icy grains, though it is not nearly as saturated with water as snowcone slush is; can be hard or somewhat soft depending on recent and current weather conditions.
Where does firn come from?
It is traced to German.

How to pronounce firn

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “firn”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/fɪɹn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “firn”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “firn” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.