# terne
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /tɜːn/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /tɝn/
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
* Homophones: tern; turn (fern–fir–fur merger)

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from French terne, from Middle French, from Old French terne (“dim, dull”), from Frankish *darnī (“concealed, hidden; secret”); further etymology unknown, perhaps related to Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark; dirty”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“to darken, dim”).

#### Adjective

terne (comparative more terne, superlative most terne)
* Colourless, drab, dull.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From terneplate, probably from terne (“colourless, drab, dull”) (see etymology 1) + plate (“layer of a material on the surface of something, plating”).

#### Noun

terne (countable and uncountable, plural ternes)
* (also attributively) An alloy coating made of lead and tin (or, more recently, zinc and tin), often with some antimony, used to cover iron or steel.
* Synonym of terneplate (“thin iron or steel sheeting coated with this alloy”)

### Etymology 3

A variant of tern.

#### Noun

terne (plural ternes)
* Obsolete spelling of tern (“any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sternidae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail”). [17th c.]

### References

* ↑ Compare “terne, adj.$^1$ (and n.$^1$)”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
* ↑ “terne, adj.$^2$ and n.$^2$”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2018; “terne, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Further reading

* terne on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Enter, Enter., enter, enter-, entre, rente, treen

## Danish
### Etymology

From Old Norse þerna.

### Noun

terne c (singular definite ternen, plural indefinite terner)
* tern (Sternidae)

#### Declension
### Derived terms

* havterne
* fjordterne
* dværgterne

### Etymology 2

From Old Danish thærne, from Old Norse þerna, Derived from Old Saxon thiorna. Compare German Dirne.

### Noun

terne c (singular definite ternen, plural indefinite terner)
* (historical) maid, young female servant

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “terne” in Den Danske Ordbog

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tɛʁn/

### Etymology 1

From Middle French, from Old French terne (“dull, dim”), from Frankish *darnī (“hidden, secret”).

#### Adjective

terne (plural ternes)
* dull; colourless; drab

##### Related terms

* ternir

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin ternas.

#### Noun

terne m (plural ternes)
* (obsolete) trinity, gathering of three people
* (backgammon, dice games) double-three
* (bingo) three in a row

### Further reading

* “terne”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* enter, entre, entré, rente, renté

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈter.ne/, [ˈt̪ɛrnɛ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈter.ne/, [ˈt̪ɛrne]

### Numeral

terne
* vocative masculine singular of ternus

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Old Norse þerna.

### Noun

terne f or m (definite singular terna or ternen, indefinite plural terner, definite plural ternene)
* a tern (seabird of family Sternidae)

### References

* “terne” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* enter, entre, entré, erten, ertne, rente, -erten, treen, trene

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Old Norse þerna. Akin to English tern.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /²tɛrnə/

### Noun

terne f (definite singular terna, indefinite plural terner, definite plural ternene)
* a tern (seabird of family Sternidae)

### References

* “terne” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Romani
### Adjective

terne
* inflection of terno:
** nominative plural
** oblique masculine singular/feminine singular/plural

## Spanish
### Verb

terne
* inflection of ternar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative