Hern vs Wern - What's the difference?
hern | wern |
(dialectal, or, poetic) heron.
* 1662 , , Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 73:
(obsolete) To refuse.
As a noun hern
is corner.As a pronoun hern
is hers; her own.As a verb wern is
to refuse.hern
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) herne, hyrne, from (etyl) . More at (l).Etymology 2
From , formed by analogy with (mine), (thine). Compare (l). Displaced in standard speech by the -s form, (m), which see for more.Etymology 3
Dialectal variant of (m).Noun
(en noun)- "Now for Swans'' & ''Ducks'', and such like ''Birds'' of the ''Water'', it is obvious to take notice how well they are fitted for that manner of life. For those that swim, their ''Feet'' are framed for it like a pair of ''Oars'', their ''Claws'' being connected with a pretty broad Membrane; and their ''Necks'' are long, that they may dive deep enough into the water. As also the ''Neck'' of the ''Hern'' , and such like Fowl who live of Fishes, and are fain to frequent their Element, who walk on long stilts also like the people that dwell in the Marshes; but their ''Claws have no such Membranes, for they had been but a hindrance to those kind of Birds that onely wade in the water, and do not swim."
wern
English
Verb
(en verb)- He is too great a niggard that will wern / A man to light a candle at his lantern. — Chaucer.