name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
kern
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American: /kɝn/
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Received-Pronunciation: /kɜːn/
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rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: K ER1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
An unincorporated community in Macon County, Missouri, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
A river in California, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A corn; grain; kernel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
The last handful or sheaf reaped at the harvest.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
The harvest home.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A doll or figurine raised in celebration of a successful harvest; kern-baby.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Any part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: hot metal printing
Topics: media, publishing, typography
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
A light-armed foot soldier of the ancient militia of Ireland and Scotland; in archaic contexts often used as a term of contempt.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
A boor; a low person.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
An idler; a vagabond.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
Alternative form of quern.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A churn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 14
To adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters (characters or glyphs); to perform such adjustments to a portion of text, according to preset rules.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: chiefly proportional font printing
Topics: media, publishing, typography
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 15
the part of a metal typeface that projects beyond its body
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: type
noun
Meaning 16
United States composer of musical comedies (1885-1945)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Jerome Kern, Jerome David Kern
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: composer
verb
Meaning 17
remove a portion of space between (adjacent letters)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: kern
Broader terms: get rid of, remove
verb
Meaning 18
furnish with a kern
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: kern
Broader terms: supply, provide, render, furnish
History
Etymology
The unincorporated community in Missouri is named after Robert Kern. The Kern River is named after Edward Kern.
From Middle English curn, cooren, variant forms of Middle English corn, see English corn and also Dutch kern, Old High German kerno, cherno, Middle High German kerne, kern, German Kern (“core, kernel”), Old Norse kjarni, Icelandic kjarni, Danish kjerne, Swedish kärna (“core, kernel”); see also kernel.
From French carne (“corner; projecting angle; quill of a pen”), from Latin cardinem (“hinge”) or from Etymology 1. The verb is a back-formation from kerned, which is from the noun. Doublet of cardo.
From Middle English kerne, from Middle Irish ceithern. Doublet of quaternion.
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Finnish: välistää — to adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters
- Finnish: välistää parit — to adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters
- Hungarian: egalizál — to adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters