# forn
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English forn, from Old English foran (“before, in front, forward, to the front”). More at fore.

### Adverb

forn (not comparable)
* (obsolete) Fore, before; in front of; forward; previously.
** 1598-1602, [author unknown], The Parnassus plays
    Stories of love, where forne the wondring bench, / The lisping gallant might injoy his wench.

#### Derived terms

* forncast

### Anagrams

* Fron, Norf.

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin furnus, from Proto-Italic *fornos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰr̥-nós, from *gʷʰer- (“warm, hot”). Compare Occitan forn or horn.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈforn]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfoɾn]
* Audio (Valencia):(file)

### Noun

forn m (plural forns)
* oven
* bakery
    Synonyms: fleca, forn de pa

#### Derived terms

* enfornar
* forn de microones
* forn de pa
* fornada
* fornejar
* forner

#### Related terms

* fornell
* forner

### Further reading

* “forn” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “forn”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “forn” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “forn” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Cornish
### Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *furn, from Latin furnus. Cognate with Welsh ffwrn (“oven”).

### Pronunciation

* (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA: [fɔrn]
* (Revived Late Cornish) IPA: [vɔrn]

### Noun

forn f (plural fornow)
* oven
    Yma pysk y'n forn.There’s a fish in the oven.

## Franco-Provençal
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin furnus.

### Noun

forn m (plural forns) (ORB, broad)
* oven

### References

* four in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
* forn in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

### Further information

* AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 239: “il forno” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
* ALF: Atlas Linguistique de la France [Linguistic Atlas of France] – map 602: “four” – on lig-tdcge.imag.fr
* Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “fŭrnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 902

## Icelandic
### Etymology

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɔrtn/
    Rhymes: -ɔrtn

### Adjective

forn (comparative fornari, superlative fornastur)
* old, ancient

#### Declension
## Maltese
### Etymology

From Arabic فُرْن (furn), from Aramaic פורנא / ܦܘܪܢܐ (pūrnā), from Ancient Greek φοῦρνος (phoûrnos), from Latin furnus. There is no reason to doubt the inheritance of the word in Maltese and consider it a borrowing from an Italo-Romance cognate such as Italian forno. The Arabic word is attested early, the outcome forn is expected in Maltese, and so is the plural fran from Arabic أَفْران (ʔafrān). Only the derivative furnar (“baker”) is, of course, a borrowing (widely replacing native ħabbież).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɔrn/

### Noun

forn m (plural fran, diminutive frajjen)
* oven

#### Related terms

* furnar (fornar)
* furnata (fornata, infurnata)
* inforna

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

### Adjective

forn (neuter fornt, definite singular and plural forne, comparative fornare, indefinite superlative fornast, definite superlative fornaste)
* old, ancient

### References

* “forn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin furnus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fuɾn/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

forn m (plural forns)
* oven

#### Dialectal variants

* horn (Gascon)

#### Derived terms

* enfornar
* fornairon
* fornariá
* fornejar
* fornatge
* fornèl
* fornelar
* fornial
* fornièr
* fornassa
* fornada

## Old English
### Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *forn, *furn, from Proto-Germanic *furnaz, variant of *fernaz.

#### Alternative forms

* fōrn

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /forn/, [forˠn]

#### Adjective

forn
* old, longstanding, time-honoured

#### Adverb

forn
* before, in front of, opposite, across from
** Ġesæt Benedictus forn onġēan ðam ― Sat Benedict opposite to them (Homl. Th. ii. 168, 15)
** Oþðæt he eft cume hyre forne ġēan ― until he again comes opposite to it (Bd. de nat. rerum; Wrt. popl. science 8, 13; Lchdm. iii. 248, 17)

##### Related terms

* forne
* foran
* fyrn

### Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *forhnu, from Proto-Germanic *furhnō (“trout”).

#### Alternative forms

* fōrn

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /forn/, [forˠn]

#### Noun

forn f
* trout

##### Usage notes

* The precise gender of the word is unknown. It is generally regarded as a feminine ō-stem due to cognates in related Germanic languages.

## Old Gutnish
### Etymology

Cognate with Old Norse forn.

### Adjective

forn
* old, ancient

#### Derived terms

* fyrnska (“ancientry, ancient (heathen) practices”)

## Old Norse
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fernaz (“foregoing, previous; recent”), from Proto-Indo-European *perHm-, *perH- (“fore, first”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, over, across, through”). Cognate with Old English firn, fyrn-, Old Frisian fīr, fēr, Old Saxon fern, Old High German firni, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fairneis).

### Adjective

forn (comparative fornari, superlative fornastr)
* old, ancient

#### Descendants

* Icelandic: forn
* Faroese: fornur
* Norwegian Nynorsk: forn
* Norwegian: (dialectal) fonn, fodn
* Norwegian Bokmål: forn
* Old Swedish: forn
** Swedish: forn
* Danish: forne

### Further reading

* Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “forn”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

## Old Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin furnus. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old French forn.

### Noun

forn m (oblique plural forns, nominative singular forns, nominative plural forn)
* oven (device for baking, cooking, etc.)

#### Descendants

* Occitan: forn

### References

* Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “furnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 902

## Old Swedish
### Etymology

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

### Adjective

forn
* ancient, very old

#### Descendants

* Swedish: forn

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Old Swedish forn, from Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz (“foregoing, previous; recent”), from Proto-Indo-European *perǝm-, *perǝ- (“fore, first”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, over, across, through”).

### Adjective

forn
* belonging to the (ancient) past
    Det forna Jugoslavien ― The former Yugoslavia

#### Usage notes

Rare in other forms than forna or forne, or as part of compounds.

#### Declension

$^1$ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. $^2$ Dated or archaic. $^3$ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

#### Derived terms

* fornforskare
* fornforskning
* forngermansk
* forngrekisk
* fornminne
* fornnordisk
* fornnordiska (“Old Norse”)
* fornsvensk
* forntid
* forntida

### References

* forn in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* forn in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* forn in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)