bearn

See also: Bearn, beàrn, Béarn, and Bèarn

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲaːɾˠn̪ˠ/

Noun

bearn f (genitive singular bearna, nominative plural bearnacha)

1. Ulster form of bearna (“gap”)

Declension

Declension of bearn (third declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative bearn bearnacha vocative a bhearn a bhearnacha genitive bearna bearnacha dative bearn bearnacha forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an bhearn na bearnacha genitive na bearna na mbearnacha dative leis an mbearn don bhearn leis na bearnacha

Mutation

Mutated forms of bearn

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bearn	bhearn	mbearn

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bearna”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Middle English

Noun

bearn

1. alternative form of barn (“child”)

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *barn. Cognate with Old Frisian bern, Old Saxon barn, Old Dutch *barn, Old High German barn, Old Norse barn, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽 (barn). Related to beran.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæ͜ɑrn/, [bæ͜ɑrˠn]

Noun

bearn n

1. child
   • c. 880–950 CE, Alfred the Great [attributed], edited and translated by Walter John Sedgefield, M.A. Melb., B.A. Cantab., King Alfred’s Version of the Consolations of Boethius, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1899, page 70:

     Swīðe wynsum hit biþ þæt man wīf hæbbe and bearn.

     It is very pleasant to have a wife and children.

   • c. 800–900 CE, George Herzfeld, Ph.D., ed. and transl., An Old English Martyrology (Early English Text Society original series 116), London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., published 1900, page 216:

     Hīe wǣron twēntiġ ġēara samod ǣr þon þe hīe bearn hæfdon.

     They were together for twenty years before they had a child.

   • c. 990 CE, John 13:33, in James Wilson Bright, Ph. D., ed. and transl., The Gospel of John in West Saxon, Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., published 1904, page 76:

     Lā bearn, nū gȳt ic eom ġehwǣde tīd mid ēow. Ġē mē sēceað; and swā ic þām Iudeon sǣde, Ġē ne magon faran þyder þe ic fare; and nū ic ēow secge.

     O children, now yet I am little time with you. You seek me; and as I told the Jews, You cannot go to there which I go; and now I tell you.

   • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 92:

     Ġelēaffulle lǣwede menn, þe on rihtum sinsċipe lybbað, āġifað þrītigḟealdne wǣstm gōdra weorca, ġif hī heora æw̄e æfter bōclīcum ġesetnyssum healdað, þæt is, þæt hī for bearnes ġestrēone, on alyfedum tīman, hǣmed begān, and bearneacniġende wīf and mōnaðsēoc forbūgan; and ðonne hēo leng tȳman ne mæġ,̇ ġeswican hī hǣmedes.

     Faithful lay people, who live in righteous marriage, yield thirtyfold fruit of good works, if their marriage follows the biblical decrees; that is, that they have intercourse for the procreation of children at permitted times, and abstain from intercourse with pregnant or menstruating women, and that at the time they can no longer procreate, they cease intercourse.

2. baby

Usage notes

See the usage notes for ċild.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	bearn	bearn
accusative	bearn	bearn
genitive	bearnes	bearna
dative	bearne	bearnum

Derived terms

• bearnēacen
• bearnġestrēon
• bearnlēas
• bearnlufu
• bearntēam
• cynebearn
• dryhtbearn
• fōstorbearn
• frumbearn
• godbearn
• stēopbearn
• wūscbearn

Descendants

• Middle English: barn, bern, bearn, bærn, barne, berne, baren
  • English: barn, bern (obsolete, dialectal)
  • Geordie: bairn
  • Scots: bairn
    • → English: bairn

Etymology 2

Inflections.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæ͜ɑrn/, [bæ͜ɑrˠn]

Verb

bearn

1. first/third-person singular preterite of beirnan

Etymology 3

Contraction of bereern, bereærn (literally “barley-place”), equivalent to bere +‎ ærn.

Alternative forms

• bern

Noun

bearn n

1. a place to store barley

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	bearn	bearn
accusative	bearn	bearn
genitive	bearnes	bearna
dative	bearne	bearnum

Descendants

• Middle English: bern, barn, baryn, berne, bærn (Early Middle English), berrn (Ormulum)
  • English: barn
  • Scots: bern
  • Yola: barrn