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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

dern.

A secret; secrecy.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/
  1. A secret; secrecy.

    obsolete
  2. A secret place; hiding.

    obsolete
  3. An obscure language.

    obsolete
  4. Darkness; obscurity.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“secret”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”).

adj/ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/
  1. Hidden; secret; private.

    dialectal · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“hidden, secret, retired, obscure, remote, eluding detection, concealed, deceitful, evil, magical”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”). Doublet of terne.

verb/ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/
  1. To hide; secrete, as in a hole.

    obsolete · transitive
  2. To hide oneself; skulk.

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English dernen, dærnen, from Old English dyrnan, diernan (“to keep secret, conceal, hide, restrain, repress, hide oneself”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”), from *darnī (“hidden, secret”). Cognate with Old Saxon dernian (“to conceal”), German tarnen (“to camouflage, disguise”). See also darn, tarnish.

noun/ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/
  1. A gatepost or doorpost.

    UK
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Maybe related to door.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.