erne

erne · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*h₃érō“large bird, eagle”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*arô“eagle”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*arnuz“eagle”
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*arnu“eagle”
5. Old English · inherited fromearn“eagle”
6. Middle English · inherited fromern
7. English todayerne

From Middle English ern, erne, earn, from Old English earn (“eagle”), from Proto-West Germanic *arnu (“eagle”), from Proto-Germanic *arnuz (“eagle”), from Proto-Germanic *arô (“eagle”) (whence also Arnold), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō (“large bird, eagle”). Cognate with North Frisian Aarn, iarn, jarn (“eagle”), West Frisian earn (“eagle”), Dutch arend (“eagle”), German Aar (“eagle”), Low German Arend (“eagle”), Danish, Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk ørn (“eagle”), Icelandic and Swedish örn (“eagle”), Ancient Greek ὄρνεον (órneon), ὄρνις (órnis, “bird”) (whence ornitho-), translingual -ornis, Proto-Slavic *orьlъ (“eagle”).

Erne · proper noun²

1. Old Irish · derived fromÉriu“matron goddess of Ireland”
2. Irish · derived fromabhainn
3. English todayErne

From Irish abhainn na hÉirne, An Éirne, from a goddess or population called Érainn, which could be related to Old Irish Ériu (“matron goddess of Ireland”), in which case a doublet of Ireland.

Erne · proper noun³

* As an Alemannic German surname, from a short form of Arnold. * As an English surname, from archaic erne (“eagle”).

Words from the same roots