kern
/kɝn/noun, verb
kern is spelled K-E-R-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kern means “Any part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kern is kerns.
How many letters and syllables are in kern?
| Letters | 4: K-E-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is kern?
Kern appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce kern?
- UK /kɜːn/
- US /kɝn/
Kern has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-kern.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with kern?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as kern from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of kern
- kerns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- kirn
- curn
- kerne
- kerning participle, present
- kerned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kern mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter.
- 2
A churn.
- 3
obsoleteA corn; grain; kernel.
- 4
obsoleteThe last handful or sheaf reaped at the harvest.
- 5
obsoleteThe harvest home.
- 6
obsoleteA doll or figurine raised in celebration of a successful harvest; kern-baby.
- 7
archaicA light-armed foot soldier of the ancient militia of Ireland and Scotland; in archaic contexts often used as a term of contempt.
- 8
IrelandobsoleteA boor; a low person.
- 9
UKobsoleteAn idler; a vagabond.
- 10
Alternative form of quern.
verb
- 1
To adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters (characters or glyphs); to perform such adjustments to a portion of text, according to preset rules.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does kern come from?
From French carne (“corner; projecting angle; quill of a pen”), from Latin cardinem (“hinge”) or from Etymology 1. The verb is a back-formation from kerned, which is from the noun. Doublet of cardo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).