berne
French, noun
berne is spelled B-E-R-N-E (5 letters) and appears 6.9 times per million words in written French, the 8,831st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Berne is a French feminine noun meaning “such a blanket itself” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of berner. With an accent, berné is a different word: “past participle of berner”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Couverture de laine”.
What does berne mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineobsoletea piece of fabric, particularly wool
- 2
feminineobsoletehazing inflicted on someone by tossing into the air on a blanket
- 3
femininesuch a blanket itself
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of berner
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Couverture de laine. 2. Brimade que l’on inflige à quelqu’un en le faisant sauter en l’air sur cette couverture.
noun: 1. Emplacement du bâtiment d’une chaudière dans les salines.
noun: 1. Variante de berme.
noun: 1. Tonneau où autrefois les fabricants d’amidon laissaient fermenter la farine.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of berne
- bernes plural
- bernée feminine
- bernés masculine plural
- bernées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is berne in French?
berne appears 6.9 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).