noun
a primitive, hand-operated mill for grinding grain.
Origin:
before 950; Middle English; Old English cweorn; akin to Old Norse kvern hand-mill
before 950; Middle English; Old English cweorn; akin to Old Norse kvern hand-mill
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To quern
Collins
World English Dictionary
quern (kwɜːn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| a stone hand mill for grinding corn | |
| [Old English cweorn; related to Old Frisian quern, Old High German kurn, Old Norse kverna, Gothic quairnus millstone] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Quern
is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
quern
O.E. cweorn "hand-mill, mill," from PIE base *gwern- (cf. O.N. kvern, O.Fris. quern, O.H.G. quirn, Goth. quirnus; Skt. grava "crushing stone;" Lith. girna "millstone," girnos "hand mills;" O.C.S. zrunuvi "mills;" Welsh brevan "hand mill").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
quern
ancient device for grinding grain. The saddle quern, consisting simply of a flat stone bed and a rounded stone to be operated manually against it, dates from Neolithic times (before 5600 BC). The true quern, a heavy device worked by slave or animal power, appeared by Roman times. Cato the Elder describes a 2nd-century-BC rotary quern consisting of a concave lower stone and a convex upper, turned by a pair of asses. Many such large querns were found in the ruins of Pompeii. The upper stone was set on a spindle that fitted into the lower. The ground grain passed down through holes in the lower stone
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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