English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːn/
• (US) enPR: ûrn, IPA^(key): /ɝn/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
• Homophones: ern, erne, urn

Verb

earn ‎(third-person singular simple present earns, present participle earning, simple past and past participle earned)

1. (transitive) To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.

   You can have the s'mores: you earned them, clearing the walkway of snow so well.‎

   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterII:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

   • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:

     England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.

2. (transitive) To receive payment for work.

   He earns seven million dollars a year as CEO.  My bank account is only earning one percent interest.‎

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. (intransitive) To receive payment for work.

   Now that you are earning, you can start paying me rent.‎

4. (transitive) To cause (someone) to receive payment or reward.

   My CD earns me six percent!‎

5. (transitive) To be worthy of.

   to earn a spot in the top 20‎

Synonyms

• (gain through applied effort or work): deserve, merit, garner, win
• ((transitive) receive payment for work):
• ((intransitive) receive payment for work):
• (cause someone to receive payment or reward): yield, make, generate, render

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Anglo-Saxon irnan to run. See rennet, and compare yearnings.

Verb

earn ‎(third-person singular simple present earns, present participle earning, simple past and past participle earned)

1. (Britain, dialect, dated) To curdle, as milk.

Etymology 3

Verb

earn ‎(third-person singular simple present earns, present participle earning, simple past and past participle earned)

1. (obsolete) To long; to yearn.
   • Spenser

     And ever as he rode, his heart did earn / To prove his puissance in battle brave.

2. (obsolete) To grieve.

Etymology 4

Noun

earn ‎(plural earns)

1. Alternative form of erne

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

Anagrams

• Arne, nare, near, Nera

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *arô, from Proto-Indo-European *er- ‎(“eagle, large bird”), *or-. Cognate with Old Saxon arn (Dutch arend, adelaar), Old High German aro (German Aar), Old Norse ǫrn (Swedish örn, Danish ørn), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌰 ‎(ara); and, outside the Germanic languages, with Ancient Greek ὄρνις, Old Armenian որոր ‎(oror, “gull”), Old Irish irar (Irish iolar), Lithuanian erēlis, eagle, Old Church Slavonic орьлъ ‎(orĭlŭ) (Russian орёл, eagle)

Noun

earn m

1. eagle

Declension

Descendants

• English: erne

West Frisian

Noun

earn c ‎(plural earnen)

1. eagle
2. (figuratively) miser