hirn

From Middle English hirne, herne, from Old English hyrne (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-. Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ is a diminutive form of *hurną, from which comes English horn. Cognate with Old Frisian herne (“horn, corner, angle”), Old Norse hyrna (“corner”), Norwegian Bokmål hjørne (“corner”) (Bokmål), Norwegian Nynorsk hyrna (“corner”) (Nynorsk), Icelandic hyrna (“point of an axehead, mountain peak”). More at horn.

hirn (plural hirns)

1. (Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Corner; nook; hiding-place

• rhin-

hirn

1. Alternative form of herne (“corner”)

• hirne, hyrn, hyrne

From Middle English herne, hirne, from Old English hyrne (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱera(w)-, *ḱrū- (“horn”). Cognate with Old Frisian herne (“horn, corner, angle”), Norwegian hyrna (“corner”), Icelandic hyrna (“point of an axehead, mountain peak”). More at horn.

hirn (plural hirns)

1. corner; nook

   To ilka hirn he takes his rout / And gangs just stavering about / In quest o'prey. — C. Keith.

2. a hiding-place

• Usually plural

• hirnek