irennen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• iernen, ȝernen, yernen

Etymology

From Old English gerinnan, giernan, equivalent to i- +‎ rennen.

Verb

irennen (third-person singular simple present iernþ, present participle ierniende, first-/third-person singular past indicative iarn, past participle ironne)

1. to run (to or towards somewhere)
2. (of celestial bodies) to move through the sky
   • c. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 7–8:

     The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne / Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,

     The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun / His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run,

3. (of milk) to curdle

Descendants

• English: yern, yearn
• Scots: yern, yirn

References

• “irennen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.