kärna

See also: karna and Karna

Swedish

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

From Old Swedish kiærne, from Old Norse kjarni, from Proto-Germanic *kernô (“core, kernel”). Cognate with Icelandic kjarni, German Kern, Dutch kern, Luxembourgish Kär.

Noun

kärna c

1. a seed (of a fruit, nut, berry, or the like)
   1. a seed, a pip (small, hard seed)

      Det är kärnor i mitt röda äpple

      There are seeds in my red apple

   2. a pit, a stone (in a drupe, avocado, or the like)

      Min avokado har en stor kärna

      My avocado has a large pit

      Kärna ur oliverna

      Remove the pits/stones from the olives / Pit/stone the olives

   3. a kernel (edible seed)

      nötens ätliga kärna

      the edible kernel of the nut

2. a kernel, a nucleus, a core (central or most important part)

   jordens kärna

   the core of the Earth

   kärnan i resonemanget

   the core/essence of the argument

3. (computing) a kernel (operating system kernel)

Usage notes

Frö is the general word for seed. A kärna is intuitively a more robust, embedded frö. The distinction is sometimes a bit fuzzy. The smaller or more "flimsy" an embedded seed is, the more likely it is to be called a frö.

Declension

Declension of kärna

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kärna	kärnas
	definite	kärnan	kärnans
plural	indefinite	kärnor	kärnors
	definite	kärnorna	kärnornas

Related terms

• atomkärna
• kärnavfall
• kärnbränsle
• kärnenergi
• kärnfrisk
• kärnfysik
• kärnfysiker
• kärnhus
• kärnkraft
• kärnreaktion
• kärnreaktor
• kärnvapen
• kärnved
• kärnvirke
• nötkärna
• smörkärna
• äppelkärna

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish kerna, from Old Norse kirna, from Proto-Germanic *kernǭ. Cognate with Icelandic kirna, English churn, German Karn, Dutch karn, West Frisian tsjerne.

Noun

kärna c

1. a churn (a vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter)

Declension

Declension of kärna

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kärna	kärnas
	definite	kärnan	kärnans
plural	indefinite	kärnor	kärnors
	definite	kärnorna	kärnornas

Verb

kärna (present kärnar, preterite kärnade, supine kärnat, imperative kärna)

1. to churn

   kärna smör

   churn butter

Conjugation

Conjugation of kärna (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	kärna		kärnas
supine	kärnat		kärnats
imperative	kärna		—
imper. plural1	kärnen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	kärnar	kärnade	kärnas	kärnades
ind. plural1	kärna	kärnade	kärnas	kärnades
subjunctive2	kärne	kärnade	kärnes	kärnades
present participle		kärnande
past participle		kärnad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Derived terms

• kärnmjölk
• kärna ur

References

• kärna in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• kärna in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• kärna in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• knäar, räkan, räkna