Etymology

pern

P3E1R1N1

Today it means: Part of a spinning wheel, a conical spool onto which the thread is wound from the spindle. Full definition →

Middle English prene
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pern · noun1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromprene
  2. English todaypern

Presumably from a verb pern, a variant of preen, from Middle English prene; pernyng is read by some editors in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (v. 611) and interpreted as the present participle of this verb, also reflected dialectally as pirn (“reel; bobbin”). See also pirl.

pern · noun2

19th century, after the taxonomical name Pernis (Cuvier 1816).

pern · verb3

See pernancy.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.