Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tarn

/tɑɹn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.60 in modern English

Syllables
tarn
IPA
/tɑɹn/
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

One of many small mountain lakes or ponds.

American usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English terne, tarne (“lake; pond, pool”), from Old Norse tjǫrn (“a small lake without tributaries”), from Proto-Germanic *ternō (“water hole”), perhaps related to *turnaz (“bitter, embittered”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to separate, split; to crack, shatter”). The word is cognate with Danish tjern, Faroese tjørn (“pond”), Icelandic tjörn (“pond”), Norwegian Bokmål tjern (“small forest or mountain lake”) (Norwegian Nynorsk tjern, tjørn), Swedish tjärn (“small forest lake”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /tɑɹn/
  • British English: /tɑːn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce tarn?
The recorded pronunciation is /tɑɹn/.
What does tarn mean?
A small mountain lake, especially in Northern England.
Where does tarn come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce tarn

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