English
ternery
From tern + -ery.
Formed from tern + -ery
Proto-Germanic *þewaz ‘servant, slave’
Proto-West Germanic *þeu ‘servant, slave’
Proto-West Germanic *þewernā ‘handmaid, young girl’
Old Norse þerna
English tern
Today it means
noun A colony of terns.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ternery”. 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 / ternery