▪ I. † dern, a. and n. Obs. or arch.
Forms: 1 derne, WS. dierne, dyrne, 2 s.w. dyrne, 2–7 derne, 2–3, 7 dearne, 3 deorne, Orm. dærne, 3–4 durne, 4–9 dern, (dial. darn).
[OE. derne, dierne, dyrne = OS. derni, OFris. dern, hidden, secret, obscure, OHG. tarni lying hid:—OTeut. *darnjo-.]
A. adj.
† 1. Of actions, etc.: Done or proceeding in secret or in the dark; kept concealed; hence, dark, of evil or deceitful nature. Obs.
| Beowulf 4342 (Thorpe) Swa sceal mæᵹ don, nealles inwitnet oðrum breᵹdan dyrnum cræfte. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xiii. 78 Ðylæs ða smyltnesse ðes domes hine ᵹewemme [oððe] se dyrna [v.r. dierna] æfst, oððe to hræd irre. c 1220 Bestiary 90 Old in hise sinnes derne. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1950 Vdas ðor quiles gaf hem red, ðat was fulfilt of derne sped. c 1300 Beket 23 The Princes douȝter..lovede him in durne love. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 14 This clerk..Of derne love he cowde and of solas. c 1400 Destr. Troy 478 Dissyring full depely in her derne hert. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 310 Now bese unlokyn many dern dede. [a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary v. iv. in Hazl. Dodsl. XII. 311 [arch.] Hent him, for dern love, hent him.] |
† b. Of persons: Secret in purpose or action; reserved, close; hence, underhand, sly, crafty. Obs.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 490 (Gr.) Dyrne deofles boda wearp hine on wyrmes lic. c 1205 Lay. 13604 Uortigerne þe swike wes ful derne [1275 deorne]. a 1300 Cursor M. 7234 (Cott.) Traitur dern and priue theif. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 111 Ye moste been ful deerne as in this cas. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13625 Deruyst & derne, myn awne dere cosyn, I graunt þe þe gouernanse of þis grete yle. |
† 2. Not made known, kept unrevealed or private; not divulged. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke viii. 47 Ða þæt wif ᵹeseah þæt hit him næs dyrne, heo com forht. c 1200 Ormin 9236 Forr Crist wass i þatt time ȝet All unncuþ & all dærne. a 1225 Ancr. R. 154 God his derne runes, & his heouenliche priuitez scheawede his leoue freond. c 1330 Assump. Virg. (BM. MS) 856 No man mai wite ne se What is þi derne priuete. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 353 Poule..herd derne wordes of God. |
† b. Of a person: Treated as a confidant; entrusted with hidden matters; privy. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6509 (Cott.) Þis moyses was ful dern and dere To drighten..He taght him tabels of þe lai. |
† c. Phr. to hold, keep (a thing) dern. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. cxviii. [cxix.] 19 Ne do þu me dyrne þine þa deoran bebodu. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wem. 450 We dule for na euill deid, sa it be derne haldin. a 1575 How Merchande dyd Wife betray 175 in Hazl. E.P.P. l. 204, I pray the..As thou art my trewe weddyd fere, In thy chaumber thou woldest kepe me dern. |
3. Of places, etc.: Secret, not generally known, private. arch.
| Beowulf 4629 (Thorpe) Se guð-sceaða..hord eft ᵹesceat, dryht-sele dyrnne. a 1000 Elene 1081 (Gr.) Þæt ðu funde, þa ðe in foldan ᵹen deope bedolfen dierne sindon. c 1205 Lay. 6750 Þe king hin lette don in to ane derne [c 1275 deorne] bure. c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 1289 On a dern stede he dede hem hide. a 1400–50 Alexander 4045 Darke in dennes vndire dounes & in derne holis. 1584 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) 305 (Jam.) Gun pulder..placeit..within the voltis, laiche and darne partes and placeis thairof. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 360 At the south-east corner is the darn, or private gate. 1814 Scott Wav. xii, That Davie Gellatly should meet them at the dern path. Ibid. xviii, There's not a dern nook, or cove, or corri, in the whole country, that he's not acquainted with. |
4. Of places: Serving well to conceal, as lying out of the way, dark, etc.; hence, dark, sombre, solitary, wild, drear. arch.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 430 Fast on to Tay his buschement can he draw. In a dern woode thai stellit thaim full law. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wem. 242 Thai drank, and did away dule, vnder derne bewis. 1608 Shakes. Per. iii. Prol. 15 By many a dern and painful perch Of Pericles the careful search..Is made. 1612 Shelton Quix. iii. xii. I. 240 He searching Adventures blind Among these dearn Woods and Rocks. 1647 H. More Song of Soul ii. iii. iii. xli, Sing we to these wast hills, dern, deaf, forlorn. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words, Deafely, lonely, solitary, far from neighbors. Dearn, signifies the same. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 96 Mid wastes that dern and dreary lie. |
5. Dark, drear, dire. arch.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 211/4 Dearne, dirus. 1613 W. Leigh Drumme Devot. 35 The light of Israel was put out for a time, Queene Elizabeth died, a dearne day to England, had it not beene presently repayred with as cleare a light from Scotland. Ibid. 39 Prognostications of our dearne light. 1650 B. Discolliminium 46 These derne, dreery, direfull dayes condunghill'd and uglified me into a darke dense lumpe. 1845 T. Cooper Purgat. Suicides (1877) 16 It was a crude excess Of all things dern and doleful, dark and drear. 1856 Dobell Eng. in Time War, Evening Dream, The awful, twilight dern and dun. |
† 6. Deep, profound, intense. lit. and fig. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3060 Hir chyn full choise was the chekys benethe, With a dympull full derne, daynté to se. c 1500 Spir. Remed. in Halliw. Nugæ Poet. 64 My myddelle woundys they bene derne and depe, Ther ys no plaster that persyth aryght. 1594 Warres of Cyrus (N.), Who, wounded with report of beauties pride, Unable to restraine his derne desire. |
B. n.
† 1. A hidden thing; a secret. Obs.
| a 1000 Gnom. Vers. 2 (Gr.) Nelle ic þe min dyrne ᵹesecᵹan. a 1300 E.E. Psalter l. 8 [li. 6] (Mätz.) Derne of þi wisdam þou opened unto me. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xliii. 23 God.. knawis all þe dern in oure hert. |
† 2. Secrecy, concealment, privacy. Chiefly in dern, in secret. Obs.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 608 Ich can nimen mus at berne, An ek at Chirche in þe derne. a 1300 Cursor M. 2935 (Cott.) Sister, to þe in dern i sai, Þou seis þe folk er all a-wai. Ibid. 21250 (Cott.) Marc, men sais, it wratte in dern. c 1420 Avow. Arth. lii, I am comun here loe In derne for to play. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wem. 9, I drew in derne to the dyk to dirkin eftir myrthis. |
† 3. A secret place; a place of concealment.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxx. 25 Þou sall hide þaim in dern of þi face. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 27 Unto ane derne for dread hee him addrest. c 1500 Leaues true Love (W. de W.), To a derne I me droughe Her wyll to knowe. |
† 4. Darkness. Obs.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Ballat our Lady 3 Haile, sterne superne..Lucerne in derne. 15.. Bannatyne Poems (1770) 98 (Jam.) My dule in dern, bot gif thow dill, Doutless bot dreid I dé. |
▪ II. dern
a door-post: see durn.
▪ III. dern
U.S. var. darn n.
| 1853 S. Lit. Messenger XIX. 222/1 Cave said he did not care a dern for the oysters. 1874 E. Eggleston Circuit Rider (1895) 120, I tole him as how I didn't keer three continental derns fer his whole band. 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer vi. 56, I wouldn't give a dern for spunk-water. 1893 M{supc}Carthy Red Diamonds I. 69 Ef it had been Noah I shouldn't have cared a dern. |
▪ IV. dern
U.S. var. darn a.
| 1853 in D.A.E. 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer ix. 97 I'd druther [rather] they was devils a dern sight. 1883 ― Life Mississippi xviii. 219 ‘Where was you born?’ ‘In Florida, Missouri.’ ‘Dern sight better stayed there!’ 1919 T. K. Holmes Man fr. Tall Timber xviii. 220 The dern fool! Thirty thousand against thirty millions! |
▪ V. † dern, darn, v. Obs. exc. dial.
Also 2–3 dærnen, deorne.
[OE. diernan, dyrnan, dernan = OS. dernjan, OHG. tarnan, tarnen, MHG. ternen to hide:—OTeut. *darnjan, f. *darnjo-, OE. derne, dern a.]
† 1. trans. To hide, conceal, keep secret. Obs.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. v. x, Þeh hie hit ær swiþe him betweonum diernden [later MS. dyrndon]. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xlv. 1 Ða ne mihte Ioseph hine leng dyrnan. 1205 Lay. 7694 Alle hine grætten & heore grame dærnden [1275 deorne]. Ibid. 18549 Næs þe king noht swa wis..þæt imong his duȝeþe his þoht cuðe dernen. c 1315 Shoreham 79 And he ondede hym cristendom, No lenge he nolde hyt derny. |
2. refl. To hide, conceal oneself. dial.
| 1604 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials Scot. II. 428 The said George darnit him selff and his servandis in ane out-hous. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 118 We dern oursel's down 'mang the fresh aiten strae. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. x. (1858) 211 He..escaped them by derning himself in a fox-earth. |
3. intr. To seek concealment; to hide. dial.
| 1584 Hudson Du Bartas' Judith (1611) 31 Their courage quailed and they began to dern. 1600 J. Melvill Diary (1842) 318 The enemies fled and darned. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 79 Ane nycht he darnit in Maisry's cot. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 261 We've..dern'd amang its green. |
† 4. trans. To cause to hide, to run to earth.
| 1584 Hudson Du Bartas' Judith 86 (Jam.) Holopherne, Who did a hundred famous princes derne. 1637 R. Monro Exped. Mackay's Reg. ii. 112 (Jam.) The cunning hunter..giving one sweat after another, till he kill or derne, in putting the fox in the earth, and then hooke him out. |
▪ VI. dern
obs. and dial. form of darn v.1
▪ VII. dern
U.S. var. darn v.2
| 1830 in D.A.E. 1848 J. J. Hooper Widow Rugby in Simon Suggs' Adv., etc. 128 Who dars to call me hit? Dern his old gray har, it shan't purtect him! 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life Mississippi xviii. 226 ‘Dod dern’ was the nearest he ventured to the luxury of swearing. 1891 H. C. Bunner Short Sixes 100 ‘Dern you,’ said the keeper to Dr. Tibbitt. |