▪ I. yarn, n.
(jɑːn)
Forms: 1 ᵹearn, 4 ȝern, iern, yaarn, 4–6 yern(e, 5 ȝarn(e, ȝieren, yeern, 5–7 yarne, 6 yaren, yarone, yeryn, yorne, 6–7 yearne, 7 yearn, 5– yarn.
[OE. ᵹearn str. n. = WFris. jern, NFris. jaarn, juarn, MDu. gaern, gar(e)n (Du. garen), OHG., MHG., G. garn yarn, † net, ON. (Sw., Da.) garn (whence garn n.); app. f. the root represented also by *garnô in ON. gǫrn, pl. garnar guts, and *garnjo- in OE. micgern, OS. midgarni, OHG. mittigarni midgern (= entrail-fat, suet), and related (outside Teutonic) to Lith. žárna intestine, L. hariolus soothsayer, haruspex one who divined the future from an inspection of the entrails of victims, Gr. χορδή intestine (chord). (Cf., moreover, Skr. hir{amacacu} vein, L. hīra empty gut, hillæ:—*hirl- smaller intestines.)]
1. a. Originally, spun fibre, as of cotton, silk, wool, flax; now, usually, fibre spun and prepared for use in weaving, knitting, the manufacture of sewing-thread, etc.
Also with qualification, as cotton, linen, woollen yarn.
| c 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 238/27 Filatum, ᵹearn. c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Gloss. ibid. 187/30 Glomus, unwunden ᵹearn. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 157 A klewe of yarn. Ibid., Do my yaarn on the reel. 1376 Rolls of Parlt. II. 353/1 Tout maner de ȝern. 1391 in W. Hudson Leet Jurisd. Norwich (1892) 75, x hespys de Irlondyern pretii iiij. d. 1420 E.E. Wills (1882) 46 Item dimidium þe ȝieren and wolle that is in this house. 1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII. c. 6 §1 The carder and Spynner to delyver agayn to the same Clothier yerne of the same Woll. a 1552 Leland Itin. (1769) VII. 47 Good Marchandis at Lyrpole, and moch Yrisch Yarn that Manchester Men do by ther. 1552–3 Inv. Ch. Goods, Stafford in Ann. Lichfield (1863) IV. 6 On cope of whitte & blewe yorne. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. iii. 93 You would be another Penelope: yet they say, all the yearne she spun in Vlisses absence, did but fill Athica full of Mothes. 1748 in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918) 28 We had about eighty Score of Yarn stole out of garth. 1784 Cowper Task i. 53 Well-tann'd hides,..With here and there a tuft of crimson yarn..in the cushion fixt. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 707 The manufacturers obtain the finer sorts of yarn chiefly from Yorkshire and Ireland. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xiii, A long stocking of mixed blue and white yarn. |
| fig. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 84 The webbe of our life, is of a mingled yarne, good and ill together. 1832–4 De Quincey Cæsars Wks. 1862 IX. 32 In the mingled yarn of human life. |
| transf. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds 56 Eggs, from which emerge..bodies enveloped in a soft plush of grey yarn. |
b. collect. sing. put for fishermen's nets.
dial.| 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xvii. 20, I wil cast my net aboute him, and catch him in my yarne. ― Hab. i. 15 They take vp all with their angle, they catch it in their net, & gather it in their yarne [Luther Garn]. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Yarn, ‘Take the yarn’, said of herrings when they strike the net. |
c. In
Rope-making, one of the threads of which a strand of rope is composed (
= rope-yarn 1), or these threads collectively.
| 1627 [see spun-yarn 2]. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 59 Yarn, called twenty-five, twenty, and eighteen thread yarn, differs only in the fineness; the twenty-five being finer than the twenty. 1831–3 P. Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 753 The first part of the process of rope-making is that of spinning the yarn or threads. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 28, 18-yarn spunyarn. Ibid. 51 If it is for boltrope 3 inches in circumference, each strand will have 30 yarns. |
2. a. to spin a yarn (
fig.,
orig. Naut. slang), to tell a story (usually a long one); also, ‘to pitch a tale’. Hence
yarn = a (long) story or tale: sometimes implying one of a marvellous or incredible kind; also, a mere tale.
colloq.| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., Yarning or spinning a yarn, signifying to relate their various adventures, exploits, and escapes to each other. 1835 Marryat Jacob Faithful ix, Come, spin us a good yarn, father. 1835 ― Pacha of Many T. xvii, ‘You must tell lies, and you will have gold.’ ‘Tell lies! that is, spin a yarn; well, I can do that.’ 1837–42 Hawthorne Twice-told T. (1851) II. vi. 97 Like uncle Parker,..I am a spinner of long yarns. 1888 Poor Nellie 162 Catch them spinning any of their yarns to me. 1897 Hall Caine in Humanitarian XI. 234 What I mean is that without motive a story in not a novel, but only a yarn. 1903 Dublin Rev. July 131 All further developments of these traditions were mere ‘yarns’. |
b. A chat, a talk.
colloq. (chiefly
Austral. and
N.Z.).
| 1857 H. W. Harper Lett. from N.Z. (1914) iii. 49 This has been a long yarn. 1883 Stevenson Treasure I. x. 80 ‘Come away, Hawkins,’ he would say; ‘come and have a yarn with John.’ 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. xii. 156 After tea father and I and Jim had a long yarn. 1929 K. S. Prichard Coonardoo xv. 147 Meenie and Bandogera had taken advantage of her absence to have a smoke and a yarn together at the wood⁓heap. 1937 D. Cowie N.Z. from Within vii. 109 The word is used in its oldest sense. The New Zealander's ‘yarn’ is the Scotsman's ‘news’. 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral. & N.Z. vi. 124 Other counts have been based on written material and the Australian one on spoken. This accounts for the inclusion of kid (‘child’).., yarn (‘talk’).., [etc.]. 1979 B. Moore Mangan Inheritance ii. 295 We can take it easy for a while and have a real yarn together. 1984 Times 11 Sept. 32/8, I still see some of the Roman Catholics in the street..and we have a yarn. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as (sense 1)
yarn ball,
yarn-carrier,
yarn hose,
yarn-man,
yarn rope,
yarn scales,
yarn spindle,
yarn stockings,
yarn thread,
yarn twine;
yarn-buyer,
yarn-factoring,
yarn-jobber,
yarn manufacture,
yarn-manufacturer,
yarn-seller; (sense 2)
yarn-slinger,
yarn-teller;
yarn-clue, a ball of yarn;
yarn count = count n.1 2 b;
yarn-croft Obs. exc. dial., a rope-yard;
yarn-dyed a., dyed while in the state of yarn or thread;
yarn-frame,
-guide (see
quots.);
yarn-house, a building in which yarns are stored;
yarn-reel (see
quot.);
yarn-roll = yarn-beam.
For other names of apparatus used in yarn manufacture see Knight's
Dict. Mech.| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 295/2 Pila paganica,..a bal stuft with soft wooll or haire, and vsed to be tossed from hand to hand: a tossing ball: a *yarne ball. |
| 1763 Museum Rust. I. 11 The eagle-sighted *yarn-buyer. |
| 1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk 100 The yarns now pass to their respective *yarn carriers, the function of which is to place the yarn in the path of the single set of sinkers. 1957 Textile Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 3) 109 Yarn carrier,..the final element which guides the yarn to the knitting instruments. |
| 1820 Scott Monast. xxxiii. (Old Play), Like to the *yarn-clew of the drowsy knitter, Dragg'd by the frolic kitten through the cabin. |
| 1923 *Yarn count [see number n. 6 g]. 1963 Jerrard & McNeill Dict. Sci. Units 154 In the textile industry the yarn count or yarn number gives either the mass per unit length or the length per unit mass of a yarn fibre. |
| 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 11 A dainty quay here is, and many *yarne-crofts here about. |
| 1885 J. J. Hummel Dyeing Textile Fabrics 289 If in any dyed woollen fabric..the dyeing took place while it was in the state of thread or yarn, it is said to be *yarn-dyed. |
| 1841 Lever O'Malley xxviii, A race of linen-weaving, Presbyterian-*yarn factoring fellows. |
| 1831–3 P. Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 755/1 The yarn reels were placed individually in a stationary frame at the head of the rope⁓ground; and it appears that the register was to be conveyed onwards towards the *yarn frame, as the strand was twisted by the hook of a sledge, at the end where the process commenced, until the whole strand was made. |
| Ibid. 756/2 The *yarn guide, or perforated plate, through which the rope yarns pass individually to concentre at the press block. |
| 1578 in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) II. 144 Eyght small women chyldren spinnyng worsted yarne, and..as many knittyng of worsted *yarne hose. |
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 60 After yarn is tarred, it is laid in the *yarn-house..to harden. |
| 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5878/8 William Hill,..*Yarne-jobber. |
| 1637 Bury Wills (Camden) 168 Goodman Howes, of Bury, *yarneman. |
| 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 664/2 The whole operations in *yarn manufacture comprise (1) heckling, (2) preparing, and (3) spinning. |
| 1783 Specif. Patent No. 1365. 1 Thomas Baker, of Derby..*Yarn Manufacturer. |
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 88 A *Yarn-reel is a circular board, nailed in the middle to a piece of oak,..16 inches long, and is used to wind spun-yarn on. |
| 1831 G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. iii. iii. 215 A weight..suspended over the *yarn-roll to produce..the requisite tension of the threads of the warp. |
| 1534 in F. W. Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 49 A *yerynrope. |
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxi, The *yarn scales in the weigh-house. |
| 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4188/4 Richard Corbett, of Spittle-fields, *Yarn-seller. |
| 1897 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, *Yarn-slinger, one who writes tales in newspapers. |
| 1820 W. Tooke tr. Lucian I. 736 She draws the *yarn-spindle from her bosom. |
| 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4056/8 Blue *Yarn Stockings. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 219 Knitting coarse yarn stockings. |
| 1891 Tablet 7 Nov. 742 The most confirmed American *yarn-teller. |
| 1833 J. Rennie Alph. Angling Pref. p. xiii, My ‘*yarn thread’ was strong enough to twitch out the trout to the green bank where I stood. |
| c 1600 J. Keymer Dutch Fishing (1664) 7 To make Cables and Cordage, likewise *Yarn Twine, and Thred for the makeing of Nets and Lines. |
▪ II. yarn, v. colloq. (
jɑːn)
[f. prec. (sense 2).] a. intr. To ‘spin a yarn’, tell a story; also, to chat or talk. Hence
ˈyarning vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1812 [see yarn n. 2 a]. 1849 Cupples Green Hand i, Somehow or another I was al'ays a yarning sort of a customer. 1857 St Leonard's Station Diary 14 May, in L. R. C. MacFarlane Amuri (1946) iii. 125 Hanging round the station, yarning and sleeping. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxi, The head man of that there gang is..a-sitting yarning with your boss. 1880 19th Cent. No. 38. 655 So we talked and yarned till I grew sleepy and dozed off. 1888 W. C. Russell Death Ship vii, We speedily fell to yarning. 1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career (1966) iii. 3 Too friendly to pay a short call, they came and sat for hours yarning about nothing in particular. 1939 A. Powell What's become of Waring vii. 206 If I..start yarning with him..we shall be late for dinner. 1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang xvii. 122 In the whitewashed Birdsville Hotel, low-roofed but with dim, cool rooms, the blokes yarn the time away. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 256 There is practically nothing to do but..yarn with your friends. 1958 L. Durrell Balthazar ii. 37 We were sitting at a café yarning. a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1977) 55 He does be yarnin with the brother above in the digs of a Sunday. 1972 M. Shadbolt Strangers & Journeys xi. 195 In the town, where men gathered to yarn on street corners. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds vi. 120 Their parents yarned over cups of tea, swapped tall stories and books. |
† b. trans. To recount or narrate.
Obs. rare.
| 1840 A. Russell Tour Austral. Colonies 40 One who can yarn the dangers of the deep so well. |
▪ III. yarn var. earn v.
1,
yearn v.,
yern.