Scots

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English kyrne; compare Old Norse kirna (churn).[1]

Alternative forms

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Noun

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kirn (plural kirns)

  1. a churn

Verb

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kirn (third-person singular simple present kirns, present participle kirnin, simple past kirnt, past participle kirnt)

  1. to churn (as milk into butter)
    • 1855, Hew Ainslie, “Croon to a Kyle cow”, in Scottish Songs, Ballads, and Poems, page 149:
      Be it warm / Be it cauld / Be it cream’d / Be it kirn’d [] / It’s welcome aye to Jock
      Whether it’s warm or cold, creamed or churned, [milk] is indeed welcome to Jock
  2. to churn up, stir, mix
    kirn with the pistle and mortar
    mix with a mortar and pestle

Etymology 2

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Uncertain. Perhaps from Old English cyrnel (kernel, grain), with meaning shifted or broadened from the seed to the whole crop plant. Compare curn (a grain, a particle).[3]

Noun

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kirn (plural kirns)

  1. a celebration to mark the end of the harvest season; (by extension) an ending or farewell celebration
    Synonym: foy
  2. the last sheaf or bit of corn harvested

See also

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  • clyack (the last sheaf harvested; the end of the harvest)
  • hare (the last sheaf harvested)
  • maiden (the last sheaf harvested, plaited and decorated with ribbons)

References

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  NODES
Note 1