Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yern

/jəːn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: yern
IPA: /jəːn/

7

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

eagerly, heartily, gladly, willingly, earnestly.

Obsolete

verb

Obsolete form of yearn.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"I am not afraid of death, and when my time comes I'll go yern."
"Who was so hardie and so stern? Tel me now, I pray you yern"
"All the people cried yernː God Master, now defend thy bairn."
"The black swarm ower the fields walks yerne"

Etymology

From Middle English yern (“willing, eager”), from Old English ġeorn (“eager”), from Proto-West Germanic *gern, from Proto-Germanic *gernaz. Cognate with Danish gerne (“gladly”), Dutch gaarne (“with pleasure, gladly”), German gern (“willingly, gladly”), Icelandic gjarn (“willing, keen, eager”), Icelandic gjarna (“willingly, readily, gladdly”), Swedish gärna (“willingly, gladly”). See also yearnful and yearnfully.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: yern, ġeorn, *gern, *gernaz

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /jəːn/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

yearn (alternative) yerns (present, singular) yerning (participle, present) yerned (participle, past) yerned (past)

Homonyms

yearn

Rhymes With

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

Questions

How do you pronounce yern?: The recorded pronunciation is /jəːn/.
What does yern mean?: eagerly, heartily, gladly, willingly, earnestly.
Where does yern come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce yern

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