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Webster 1913 Edition
Quern
Quern
,Noun.
[AS.
cweorn
, cwyrn
; akin to D. kweern
, OHG. quirn
, Icel. kvern
, Sw. qvarn
, Dan. quærn
, Goth. qairnus
(in asiluqaírnus
), Lith. qìrnos
, and perh. E. corn
.] A mill for grinding grain, the upper stone of which was turned by hand; – used before the invention of windmills and watermills.
Shak.
They made him at the
querne
grind. Chaucer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Quern
QUERN
, n.A hand-mill for grinding grain; a mill, the stone of which was turned by hand, used before the invention of windmills and watermills.