forn

From Middle English forn, from Old English foran (“before, in front, forward, to the front”). More at fore.

forn (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Fore, before; in front of; forward; previously.
   • 1598-1602, [author unknown], The Parnassus plays

     Stories of love, where forne the wondring bench, / The lisping gallant might injoy his wench.

• Fron, Norf.

Inherited from Latin furnus, from Proto-Italic *fornos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰr̥-nós, from *gʷʰer- (“warm, hot”). Compare Occitan forn or horn.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈforn]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfoɾn]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

forn m (plural forns)

1. oven
2. bakery

   Synonyms: fleca, forn de pa

• fornell
• forner

• “forn”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “forn”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “forn” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “forn” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Proto-Brythonic *furn, from Latin furnus. Cognate with Welsh ffwrn (“oven”).

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [fɔrn]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [vɔrn]

forn f (plural fornow)

1. oven

   Yma pysk y'n forn.

   There’s a fish in the oven.

Inherited from Latin furnus.

forn m (plural forns) (ORB, broad)

1. oven

• four in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• forn in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 239: “il forno” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• ALF: Atlas Linguistique de la France^[1] [Linguistic Atlas of France] – map 602: “four” – on lig-tdcge.imag.fr
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “fŭrnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 3: D–F, page 902

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

• IPA^(key): /fɔ(r)t⁽ʰ⁾n/

  Rhymes: -ɔrtn

forn (comparative fornari, superlative fornastur)

1. old, ancient

From Arabic فُرْن (furn), from Aramaic פורנא / ܦܘܪܢܐ (pūrnā), from Ancient Greek φοῦρνος (phoûrnos), from Latin furnus. There is no reason to doubt the inheritance of the word in Maltese and consider it a borrowing from an Italo-Romance cognate such as Italian forno. The Arabic word is attested early, the outcome forn is expected in Maltese, and so is the plural fran from Arabic أَفْران (ʔafrān). Only the derivative furnar (“baker”) is, of course, a borrowing (widely replacing native ħabbież).

• IPA^(key): /fɔrn/

forn m (plural fran, diminutive frajjen)

1. oven

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

forn (neuter fornt, definite singular and plural forne, comparative fornare, indefinite superlative fornast, definite superlative fornaste)

1. old, ancient

• “forn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin furnus.

• IPA^(key): /fuɾn/

• Audio:

  (file)

forn m (plural forns)

1. oven

• horn (Gascon)

From Proto-West Germanic *forn, *furn, from Proto-Germanic *furnaz, variant of *fernaz.

• fōrn

• IPA^(key): /forn/, [forˠn]

forn

1. old, longstanding, time-honoured

forn

1. before, in front of, opposite, across from
   • Ġesæt Benedictus forn onġēan ðam ― Sat Benedict opposite to them (Homl. Th. ii. 168, 15)
   • Oþðæt he eft cume hyre forne ġēan ― until he again comes opposite to it (Bd. de nat. rerum; Wrt. popl. science 8, 13; Lchdm. iii. 248, 17)

• forne
• foran
• fyrn

From Proto-West Germanic *forhnu, from Proto-Germanic *furhnō (“trout”).

• fōrn

• IPA^(key): /forn/, [forˠn]

forn f

1. trout

• The precise gender of the word is unknown. It is generally regarded as a feminine ō-stem due to cognates in related Germanic languages.

Cognate with Old Norse forn.

forn

1. old, ancient

• fyrnska (“ancientry, ancient (heathen) practices”)

From Proto-Germanic *fernaz (“foregoing, previous; recent”), from Proto-Indo-European *perHm-, *perH- (“fore, first”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, over, across, through”). Cognate with Old English firn, fyrn-, Old Frisian fīr, fēr, Old Saxon fern, Old High German firni, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fairneis).

forn (comparative fornari, superlative fornastr)

1. old, ancient

• Icelandic: forn
• Faroese: fornur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: forn
• Norwegian: (dialectal) fonn, fodn
• Norwegian Bokmål: forn
• Old Swedish: forn
  • Swedish: forn
• Danish: forne

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “forn”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

From Latin furnus. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old French forn.

forn m (oblique plural forns, nominative singular forns, nominative plural forn)

1. oven (device for baking, cooking, etc.)

• Occitan: forn

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “furnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 3: D–F, page 902

From Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz.

forn

1. ancient, very old

• Swedish: forn

From Old Swedish forn, from Old Norse forn, from Proto-Germanic *fernaz (“foregoing, previous; recent”), from Proto-Indo-European *perǝm-, *perǝ- (“fore, first”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, over, across, through”).

forn

1. belonging to the (ancient) past

   Det forna Jugoslavien ― The former Yugoslavia

Rare in other forms than forna or forne, or as part of compounds.

• forn in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• forn in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• forn in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)