Etymograph

English

derne

Derne comes from Old English diernan ‘to hide’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰer-1‘to support’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150diernan1as dyrnan‘to hide’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1854derne1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English derne
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Hugh Miller: “He at length escaped them by derning himself in…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰer-Wiktionary, English derne‘to support’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150diernanWiktionary, English derneas dyrnan‘to hide’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1854derneWiktionary, English derne. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Hugh Miller: “He at length escaped them by derning himself in…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support’

dark, drug, firm, dry, drama, dare, drain, throne, feasible, drone, formidable, drastic, refrain, dharma, dazed, dor, 42 more

through Old English diernan ‘to hide’

darn

Today it means

verb —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “derne”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- / derne

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