Hern
/hɜːrn/noun
An archaic or dialectal English name for a heron.
Did you know?Herns and herons were associated with lonely wetlands and omens in medieval imagination, although the word itself has no proven occult meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic (probable source)
Germanic
*hraiwaz / related bird-name forms
“A reconstructed Germanic bird name; the precise ancestry of hern is uncertain.”
Old English
Old English
hearn
“A heron or similar long-legged wading bird; the form is recorded in variant spellings.”
Middle English
Middle English
hern
“A heron, especially in dialectal or regional usage.”
14th–15th Century
English
hern
“A variant spelling used for the bird now more commonly called a heron.”
Modern English
English
hern
“An archaic or dialectal term for heron, surviving especially in compounds such as hernshaw.”