Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

terne

/tɝn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.10 in modern English

Syllables: terne
IPA: /tɝn/

5

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Colourless, drab, dull.

noun

An alloy coating made of lead and tin (or, more recently, zinc and tin), often with some antimony, used to cover iron or steel.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Synonym of terneplate (“thin iron or steel sheeting coated with this alloy”).

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Obsolete spelling of tern (“any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sternidae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail”).

Obsolete

Etymology

Borrowed from French terne, from Middle French, from Old French terne (“dim, dull”), from Frankish *darnī (“concealed, hidden; secret”); further etymology unknown, perhaps related to Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark; dirty”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“to darken, dim”). Doublet of dern.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: *dʰerg-, terne, -, *darnī, *derk

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /tɝn/
British English: /tɜːn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

more terne (comparative) most terne (superlative) ternes (plural)

Synonyms

terneplate

Homonyms

tern turn (fern–fir–fur merger)

Rhymes With

turn return learn left turn concern burn to burn earn stern fern urn discern

Questions

How do you pronounce terne?: The recorded pronunciation is /tɝn/.
What does terne mean?: Colourless, drab, dull.
Where does terne come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce terne

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