pern
pern · perns
Part of a spinning wheel, a conical spool onto which the thread is wound from the spindlePart of a spinning wheel, a conical spool onto which the thread is wound from the spindle.
/pɜː(ɹ)n/
Meaning
2 sensesPart of a spinning wheel, a conical spool onto which the thread is wound from the spindle.
A honey buzzard; Pernis apivorus.
Origin
Presumably from a verb pern, a variant of preen, from Middle English prene; pernyng is reaPresumably from a verb pern, a variant of preen, from Middle English prene; pernyng is read by some editors in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (v. 611) and interpreted as the present participle of this verb, also reflected dialectally as pirn (“reel; bobbin”). See also pirl.
19th century, after the taxonomical name Pernis (Cuvier 1816).
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