yarn

English Online Dictionary. What means yarn‎? What does yarn mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English yarne, ȝern, yarn, from the Old English ġearn (“yarn, spun wool”), from Proto-West Germanic *garn, from Proto-Germanic *garną (“yarn”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰorn-, *ǵʰerH- (“tharm, guts, intestines”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yän, IPA^(key): /jɑːn/
• (US) enPR: yärn, IPA^(key): /jɑɹn/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)n

Noun

yarn (countable and uncountable, plural yarns)

1. (uncountable) A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving.
2. (nautical) Bundles of fibers twisted together, and which in turn are twisted in bundles to form strands, which in their turn are twisted or plaited to form rope.
3. (countable) A story, a tale, especially one that is incredible.

Synonyms

• (story or tale): story, tale

Hyponyms

• (en, fiber strand): worsted

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• hank
• twine
• thread

Verb

yarn (third-person singular simple present yarns, present participle yarning, simple past and past participle yarned)

1. (intransitive) To tell a story or stories, especially one that is lengthy or unlikely to be true.
   • 1935, Christopher Isherwood, Mr Norris Changes Trains (U.S. title: The Last of Mr Norris), Chapter Thirteen, in The Berlin Stories, New York: New Directions, 1963, p. 152,^[2]

     “Well, well!” exclaimed Mr. van Hoorn. “Here are the boys! As hungry as hunters, I’ll be bound! And we two old fogies have been wasting the whole afternoon yarning away indoors. My goodness, is it as late as that? I say, I want my tea!”

Derived terms

• yarn on
• yarner

Translations

Anagrams

• Arny, N-ray, NYRA, Ryan, n-ary, nary

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝarn, ȝern, ȝerne, jarne, yarne, yeern

Etymology

From Old English ġearn, from Proto-West Germanic *garn, from Proto-Germanic *garną. Doublet of garn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjarn/, /ˈjɛːrn/, /ˈjɛrn/

Noun

yarn (uncountable)

1. Yarn; a length of fibre used to weave.

   Synonym: garn

Descendants

• English: yarn
• Scots: yairn

References

• “yarn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-05.

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈjaɾn/ [ˈjaɹn̪]
• Rhymes: -aɾn
• Syllabification: yarn

Pronoun

yarn (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜇ᜔ᜈ᜔) (gay slang, humorous)

1. Alternative form of iyan