# erne

Pronunciation: say "URN" US /ɝːn/, UK /ɜːn/

## Noun

1. The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), or more broadly any sea eagle of the genus Haliaeetus.
   - Simple: A large bird of prey that hunts fish along seas and coasts.
   - _The fisherman watched an erne snatch a salmon from the shallows._
   - _An erne nested on a high ledge overlooking the rocky coastline._
2. An eagle, in poetic or regional use. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: A large eagle, used mostly in poems or local speech.
   - _High over the glen, an erne hung motionless against the gray sky._
   - _An erne wheeled above the crags as the storm gathered in the west._

## Verb

3. To long or yearn for something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To want or miss something very much.

## Origin

From Middle English ern, from Old English earn ("eagle"), going back through Proto-Germanic *arnuz to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃érō ("large bird, eagle"). It is related to Dutch arend, German Aar, and the Scandinavian ørn/örn, all meaning "eagle," as well as Ancient Greek ὄρνις ("bird").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/erne (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).