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terne

Pronunciation: /tɜːn/

The English word “terne” has 3 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Colourless, drab, dull.

noun

  1. An alloy coating made of lead and tin (or, more recently, zinc and tin), often with some antimony, used to cover iron or steel.
  2. Synonym of terneplate (“thin iron or steel sheeting coated with this alloy”).

Etymology

Borrowed from French terne, from Middle French, from Old French terne (“dim, dull”), from Frankish *darnī (“concealed, hidden; secret”); further etymology unknown, perhaps related to Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark; dirty”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“to darken, dim”). Doublet of dern.

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