karn

Borrowed from Cornish karn. Doublet of cairn.

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)n

karn (plural karns)

1. (mining, dated) A pile of rocks.
   • 1754, William Borlase, Observations on the Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall, page 132:

     Besides the single bason above-mention'd, I could not perceive one in all the rocks; but in a Karn below, overlooking, and it's sides almost perpendicular to the sea, I saw many furrows and clefts crossing the surface of the upper rocks; this lower-most Karn is call'd in the Cornish tongue Karn-a-wethen, that is, the Tree-Karn […]

   • 1816, Richard Polwhele, The History of Cornwall, Civil, Military, Religious, Architectural, Agricultural, Commercial, Biographical, and Miscellaneous, page 30:

     This gorseddau lies opposite to a karn of rocks, which is called the Cheese-wring.

   • 1817, Charles Sandoe Gilbert, A Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall, page 175:

     This quoit was brought from a karn about a furlong distance, near which is another cromlech, not so large.

• knar, ARNK, kran, Kanr, nark, Rank, rank

From Old Cornish carn, from Proto-Brythonic *karn, from Proto-Celtic *karnos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-. Cognate with Breton karn, Gaulish karnon, Scottish Gaelic càrn (whence Scots and English cairn), and Welsh carn.

karn m (plural karnow)

1. heap/pile of rocks
2. tor

• → English: karn

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Compare Welsh carn.

karn m (plural karnow)

1. hoof

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• Rhymes: -ɑrn

karn

1. inflection of karnen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

• rank