▪ I. durn Now dial.
(dɜːn)
Forms: 4–7 dorne, 5 dirn, dyrn, 6 doorne, 6–7 durne, 7 dourne, 9 dern, durn.
[Widely used in dialects, Lincolnshire to Cornwall: app. from Norse. Cf. in same sense OSw. dyrni, Norw. dyrn, Sw. dial. dörne:— *durnja- deriv. of *durō̆n, durn (Goth. pl. daurons, Crim-Goth. thurn) door, f. dur- door.]
a. A door-post, when made of solid wood; usually in pl. The framework of a doorway.
| c 1325 Gloss W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 170 E entre la teste la suslyme [Gloss. over-slay, MS. Cambr. hover⁓dorne]. 1408 Nottingham Rec. II. 58 Unum hostium cum dirnis de chelario..unum hostium et unum par de dyrnes. 1503 Churchw. Acc. Yatton (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 127 For hewyng of y⊇ dornenys of y⊇ seyd dor. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Batiente de puerta, the doornes of a doore, anta. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. 59 The fayre freehewed stone wyndowes, the Durnes and wrowght Dorepostes, are converted to private mens purposes. 1630 Churchw. Acc. Tavistock in Worth T. Par. Acc. (1887) 44 Paid Stephen Browne the mason for makinge of new durnes. 1787 Grose Provinc. Gloss., Durn, gate-posts. N[orth]. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xiv. (1861) 237 So I just put my eye between the wall and the dern of the gate, and I saw him come up to the back door. 1880 E. Cornwall Gloss., Derns, the wooden frame in which a door swings. 1886 Cole W. Lincolnsh. Gloss. s.v. Door-dern, I am sure the doors were in, leastways the derns were. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Durns, the frame of a door in situ..applied to a solid door-frame. Ibid., Durn-head, the cross piece at the top of a door-frame. |
b. Mining. durns (as a sing.), A frame of timbering; also called door-stead (b).
| 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 166 If the ground is very loose on all sides, they make a Durns..which for a Shaft is square like the frame of a window, and for an Adit is the same as a door case. 1877 tr. Callon's Lect. Mining I. 257 (Cent. s.v. Set), A gallery requires what are called frames (sets or durnzes) for its proper support. |
▪ II. durn
see dare v.1
▪ III. durn
U.S. var. darn n.2, adv., a., and v.2 Cf. dern, durned.
| 1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes 18 Old Boler's..broke a dish and two plates all to durn smashes! 1866 C. H. Smith Bill Arp Durn the staff and Joe Brown, too. 1867 G. W. Harris Sut Lovingood 32, I can't say that es a human shut [shirt] I'd gin a durn fur a dozin ove em. 1888 Portland Transcript (Farmer), I'll bet I could make as good-lookin' a burst as any o' these,—an' mebbe a durn sight better. 1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 176 It was as much as a man's life was worth to say ‘durn’ out loud. 1918 Sat. Even. Post 5 Jan. 12 If I'd been as big as you be they wouldn't have cared a durn about my eyes. 1936 W. Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! 44 Boys, this time he stole the whole durn steamboat! |