earn

SayURN/ɝn/UK/ɜːn/

7 meanings of earn

1
gain by effortverbtransitive
To get something such as praise, success, or a reputation because of your work, actions, or qualities.
She earned a reputation for fairness during her twenty years as a judge.
Teams earn the public's trust by being honest about their mistakes.
UsageUsually says the result was deserved, good or bad: earned their trust, earned a red card. Something won by luck is won, not earned.
Similarwin, get, secure
2
paid for workverbtransitive
To get money as payment for work you do or a position you hold, or as interest or profit from savings, investments, or a business.
Board members earn a retainer whether or not they attend meetings.
The executive earned a seven-figure package during a year the company lost money.
UsageCommon in earn a living and with an amount: earn $50,000 a year, earn fifteen dollars an hour.
Note
The moral weight of the effort-and-reward meaning drops away, and the verb simply records money coming in. That is why it fits a retainer, a fee or a disputed executive salary without any irony.
3
verbtransitive
To cause someone to receive payment or reward, as when an action or asset brings them income.
A good credit score can earn borrowers lower interest rates.
Her performance earned the whole cast a standing ovation.
UsageOften with two objects, the person before the reward: a good score can earn you lower rates. The subject is often a thing or action.
Similarbring
Oppositecost

Less common meanings

4
curdleverbarchaicBritishtransitive or intransitive
To curdle milk, or of milk to curdle, especially in making cheese.
Note
A separate word from the money verb that only shares its spelling. It probably goes back to Middle English ernen, "to coagulate," a reshuffled form of rennen, "to run," though that origin is not the only one proposed. Milk that sets was said to run, and run remains a synonym; in Northern England and Scotland, yearn served as well. Outside British dialect the verb is archaic.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
The curdling verb has a separate etymology from the payment verb, which derives from Old English earnian. en.wiktionary.org
A proposed origin connects it with Middle English ernen, meaning coagulate, as a metathetic form of rennen. en.wiktionary.org
An alternative derivation has been proposed: back-formation from earning, meaning rennet. en.wiktionary.org
The historical verb meaning run also had the meaning coagulate or congeal. en.wiktionary.org
Run is listed as a synonym of earn in its curdling sense. en.wiktionary.org
Yearn was used for curdling milk in Northern England and Scotland. en.wiktionary.org
5
verbobsoleteintransitive
To long or yearn intensely for something or to do something.
And ever as he rode, his hart did earne / To prove his puissance in battell brave.
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
Note
A third, unrelated earn: a variant of yearn. It can take a to-infinitive. Spenser shows both the spelling and the construction in The Faerie Queene (1590): "his hart did earne / To prove his puissance in battell brave." Now obsolete, it is met mainly in Elizabethan verse, where the heart is a natural subject.
6
verbobsoleteintransitive
To feel or express deep grief.
Note
Longing turns to sorrow. This use comes from the same yearn as the obsolete "long for" verb and means to mourn. Shakespeare spells it erne in Henry V: "my manly heart doth erne," and then "Falstaffe hee is dead, and wee must erne therefore." It takes no object, so the cause of grief is stated separately. Today it is a word for reading old texts.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
The grief sense and the obsolete longing sense are variants of yearn. en.wiktionary.org
This sense means to mourn and is intransitive, so the cause of grief is expressed separately. en.wiktionary.org
Shakespeare's Henry V uses the spelling erne in the first quotation; Pistol is the speaker. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
The second quotation also occurs in Pistol's speech in Henry V. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
In the quoted examples, earn takes no object and the cause of grief is stated separately. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
7
noundialectalBritish
Alternative form of erne, found in British dialects.
They gleamed on many a dusky tarn , Haunted by the lonely earn
1805, Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3

Proto-Germanic *azanōną, a verb made from the noun *azaniz, meaning "harvest," passed through Proto-West Germanic *aʀanōn into Old English as earnian and then into Middle English as ernen.

Meaning 4

Probably either from Middle English erne, ernen ("to coagulate, congeal"), a metathetic variant of rennen ("to run; congeal") from Old English rinnan and Old Norse rinna, both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- ("to move, stir"); or a back-formation from earning ("rennet").

Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

One proposed derivation is from Middle English erne or ernen, meaning to coagulate or congeal. en.wiktionary.org
Erne or ernen is a metathetic variant of rennen. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English rennen meant both to run and to coagulate or congeal. en.wiktionary.org
Rennen derives from Old English rinnan and Old Norse rinna. en.wiktionary.org
Old English rinnan and Old Norse rinna both descend from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *rinnaną ultimately traces to Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-, meaning to move or stir. en.wiktionary.org
An alternative proposed derivation is a back-formation from earning, meaning rennet. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 5–6

A variant of yearn.

Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Earn is a variant of yearn. en.wiktionary.org