airn
Airn is a dialectal British form of 'earn,' reflecting regional phonological shifts in parts of northern England and Scotland where the vowel in 'earn' is altered.
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Born ~950 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
Airn is a dialectal British form of 'earn,' reflecting regional phonological shifts in parts of northern England and Scotland where the vowel in 'earn' is altered. It is found in historical dialect writing and folk literature but is now obsolete in active speech. Its primary interest is linguistic — as evidence of vowel shift patterns in older northern English dialects.
He promised he would airn enough by harvest time to pay off his debts.
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(UK, dialect) To earn.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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- 65%
A Scottish and Northern English dialect word meaning a direction, compass point, or quarter of the compass — as in 'from every airt' meaning from every direction. As a verb, it means to guide or direct someone toward something. The word has a poetic, archaic quality and appears in Scottish literature, particularly Burns ('the cauld blast, frae every airt'). Still understood in Scotland though not in common everyday use; it has a distinctly literary and traditional feel.
- 63%
(Scotland, Northern England) direction; quarter.
- 60%
(aviation, slang) To gain altitude.
- 60%
(Scotland) To guide; to direct.