# tarn

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɑːn/ · frequency rank #47,370

## Definitions
1. A small mountain lake, especially in Northern England.
2. One of many small mountain lakes or ponds.

## Etymology
From Middle English terne, tarne (“lake; pond, pool”), from Old Norse tjǫrn (“a small lake without tributaries”), from Proto-Germanic *ternō (“water hole”), perhaps related to *turnaz (“bitter, embittered”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to separate, split; to crack, shatter”). The word is cognate with Danish tjern, Faroese tjørn (“pond”), Icelandic tjörn (“pond”), Norwegian Bokmål tjern (“small forest or mountain lake”) (Norwegian Nynorsk tjern, tjørn), Swedish tjärn (“small forest lake”).

## Easily confused with
- **TN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tn)
- **try** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-try)
- **tax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tax)
- **ten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-ten)
- **ton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-ton)
- **tin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tin)
- **tri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tri)
- **tor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tor)
- **tat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tat)
- **tau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tau)
- **ter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-ter)
- **tay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tay)
- **tre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tre)
- **tra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tra)
- **tru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tru)
- **tun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tun)
- **TRP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-trp)
- **tur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tur)
- **Taz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-taz)
- **Tyr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarn-vs-tyr)

## Common misspellings (5)
`atrn`, `tanr`, `tarnn`, `tarrn`, `ttarn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tarn