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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL2 source sections across 1 headword matching “Bern”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
BernEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Alemannic German Bärn, of uncertain further origin. A popular folk etymology says it was named by its founder, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, after the first animal he saw in the area, a Bär(in) (“bear”) (compare Berlin, subject to a similar folk etymology). The name is now thought to be connected to a Celtic word, Proto-Celtic *berna (“cleft”) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to carve out, cut”)) and *branos (“raven”) (compare the name ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ (BRENODŌR), on the Bern zinc tablet, which has also been connected with the Gaulish name Brennus). More at Bern.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗BernEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
Abbreviations * Clipping of Bernard. * Clipping of Bernadette. * Clipping of Bernice.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
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Mayhew–Skeat (1888)
1888; pinned HTML transcription updated October 28, 2024- BernMiddle English · word_bern_sb_1
Bern, sb. a man, PP, HD; berne, PP; burn, S2; burne, S2; beorn, MD; burnes, pl., S2; biernes, P.—AS. beorn.
Read the full source record → - BernMiddle English · word_bern_sb_2
Bern, sb. barn, C2, MD; beren, S (12. 263), MD; berne, S; dat., C3, W; bernes, pl., W, W2, P.—AS. bern: ONorth. ber-ern, i.e. barley-house. Source markup note (transcriber annotation; text “ONorth.”): text has ‘O. North.
Read the full source record → - BernMiddle English · e-10625-main-992
Bern; see Barn.
Read the full source record →
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