ekorn

From Danish egern, from Old Norse íkorni, from Proto-Germanic *aikwernô, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer-.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛkːʊɳ]
• Rhymes: -ʊɳ

ekorn n (definite singular ekornet, indefinite plural ekorn or ekorner, definite plural ekorna or ekornene)

1. a squirrel (rodent)

   Jeg så et ekorn springe opp i et tre nå nettopp.

   I saw a squirrel run up into a tree just now.

• As of December 5th 2019, the Language Council of Norway rendered a masculine inflection of this noun obsolete.^[1]

• “ekorn” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• ikorn

From Old Norse íkorni, from Proto-Germanic *aikwernô, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer-. First attested as Ejckoin in 1646 by Christen Jensøn from Askvoll, showing both palatalization (see ikønn) and a preserved diphthong (similar to his spelling of ekkje).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛkːʊɳ/ (eastern dialects)

ekorn n (definite singular ekornet, indefinite plural ekorn, definite plural ekorna)

1. a squirrel, a rodent of the subfamily Sciurinae

   Synonym: trebjørn

   • 1879, Arne Garborg, Seld til den Vonde:

     Brune Ekorn skvatt att og fram, ein Trepikkar sat og bankad i ein Furulegg.

     Brown squirrels skipped back and forth, a woodpecker sat pecking at the trunk of a pine.

2. a red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris

• “ekorn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• Torleiv Hannaas (1915) Ældre norske Sprogminder : Christen Jensøns Den Norske Dictionarium (in Norwegian Nynorsk), page 17