Etymograph

English

darn

A minced oath of damn.

The story

A minced oath of damn.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Another origin of darn

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰer-‘to support’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*darnī‘hidden, secret’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*darnijan‘to hide, conceal’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150diernan‘to hide, conceal’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dernen‘to keep secret, hide, conceal (a hole)’
  6. Englishtodaydarn

Today it means

adj Damn.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “darn”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / darn

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