different between nook vs hirn

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: no?ok, IPA^(key): /n?k/
• (obsolete) enPR: no?ok, IPA^(key): /nu?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology

From Middle English noke, nok (“nook, corner, angle”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots neuk, nuk (“corner, angle of a square, angular object”). Perhaps from Old English hnoc, hnocc (“hook, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hnukkaz, *hnukkô (“a bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *knewg- (“to turn, press”), from Proto-Indo-European *ken- (“to pinch, press, bend”). If so, then also related to Scots nok (“small hook”), Norwegian dialectal nok, nokke (“hook, angle, bent object”), Danish nok (“hook”), Swedish nock (“ridge”), Faroese nokki (“crook”), Icelandic hnokki (“hook”), Dutch nok (“ridge”), Low German Nocke (“tip”), Old Norse hnúka (“to bend, crouch”), Old English ?ehnycned (“drawn, pinched, wrinkled”).

Noun

nook (plural nooks)

1. A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove.

   Synonyms: alcove, ancone, recess

2. A hidden or secluded spot; a secluded retreat.

3. A recess, cove or hollow.

   Synonym: niche
4. (historical) An English unit of land area, originally ¹?₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹?₂ or 20 acres.

   Synonym: fardel

   • a. 1634, W. Noye, The Complete Lawyer, 57:

     You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land.

   • 1903, English Dialectical Dictionary, volume IV, page 295:

     Nook, an old legal term for 12+¹?₂ acres of land; still in use at Alston.

   • 1968, November 9, The Economist, page 2:

     They poured their wine by the aume or the fust, and cut their cloth by the goad—not to be confused with the gawd, which was a measure of steel. Their nook was not cosy; it covered 20 acres.

6. (chiefly Northern England, archaic) A corner of a piece of land; an angled piece of land, especially one extending into other land.

Alternative forms

• (corner of a piece of land): nuke

Hypernyms

• (unit of area): See hundred (16,000 nooks); see carucate (16); see virgate (4); see oxgang (2)

Hyponyms

• (unit of area): See fardel (¹?₂ nook), see acre (various fractions & for further subdivisions)

Derived terms

Related terms

• inglenook

Translations

Verb

nook (third-person singular simple present nooks, present participle nooking, simple past and past participle nooked)

1. To withdraw into a nook.
2. To situate in a nook.

References

Anagrams

• Kono

English

Etymology

From Middle English hirne, herne, from Old English hyrne (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurnij?, from Proto-Germanic *hurnij? (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *?erh?-. Proto-Germanic *hurnij? is a diminutive form of *hurn?, from which comes English horn. Cognate with Old Frisian herne (“horn, corner, angle”), Old Norse hyrna (“corner”), Norwegian Bokmål hjørne (“corner”) (Bokmål), Norwegian Nynorsk hyrna (“corner”) (Nynorsk), Icelandic hyrna (“point of an axehead, mountain peak”). More at horn.

Noun

hirn (plural hirns)

1. (Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Corner; nook; hiding-place

Anagrams

• rhin-

Middle English

Noun

hirn

1. Alternative form of herne (“corner”)

Scots

Alternative forms

• hirne, hyrn, hyrne

Etymology

From Middle English herne, hirne, from Old English hyrne (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hurnij? (“horn, corner, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *?erh?- (“horn”). Cognate with Old Frisian herne (“horn, corner, angle”), Norwegian hyrna (“corner”), Icelandic hyrna (“point of an axehead, mountain peak”). More at horn.

Noun

hirn (plural hirns)

1. corner; nook

   To ilka hirn he takes his rout / And gangs just stavering about / In quest o'prey. — C. Keith.

2. a hiding-place

Usage notes

• Usually plural

Derived terms

• hirnek