different between yarn vs memoir

English

Etymology

From Middle English yarne, ?ern, yarn, from the Old English ?earn (“yarn, spun wool”), from Proto-West Germanic *garn, from Proto-Germanic *garn? (“yarn”), from Proto-Indo-European *??orn-, *??er- (“tharm, guts, intestines”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yân, IPA^(key): /j??n/
• (US) enPR: yârn, IPA^(key): /j??n/
• Rhymes: -??(r)n

Noun

yarn (countable and uncountable, plural yarns)

1. (uncountable) A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving.
2. (nautical) Bundles of fibers twisted together, and which in turn are twisted in bundles to form strands, which in their turn are twisted or plaited to form rope.
3. (countable) A story, a tale, especially one that is incredible.

Synonyms

• (story or tale): story, tale

Hyponyms

• (en, fiber strand): worsted

Derived terms

• yarn-beam
• yarn-spinner
• yarnwindle

Related terms

• spin a yarn

Translations

See also

• hank
• twine
• thread

Verb

yarn (third-person singular simple present yarns, present participle yarning, simple past and past participle yarned)

1. To tell a story or stories.
   • 1935, Christopher Isherwood, Mr Norris Changes Trains (U.S. title: The Last of Mr Norris), Chapter Thirteen, in The Berlin Stories, New York: New Directions, 1963, p. 152,^[1]

     “Well, well!” exclaimed Mr. van Hoorn. “Here are the boys! As hungry as hunters, I’ll be bound! And we two old fogies have been wasting the whole afternoon yarning away indoors. My goodness, is it as late as that? I say, I want my tea!”

   • 1942, Neville Shute, Pied Piper, New York: William Morrow & Co., Chapter 7,^[2]

     They had stayed in some little pension and had gone for little, bored walks while the colonel went out in the boats with the fisherman, or sat yarning with them in the café.

Derived terms

• yarner

Translations

Anagrams

• Arny, N-ray, NYRA, Ryan, n-ary, nary

Middle English

Noun

yarn

1. Alternative form of yarne

English

Etymology

From French mémoire (“memoir”), from Latin memoria (“memory”). Doublet of memoria and memory.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?m?w??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?m?w??/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /?m?m????/
• Hyphenation: mem?oir

Noun

memoir (plural memoirs)

1. An autobiography; a book describing the personal experiences of an author.

2. A biography; a book describing the experiences of a subject from personal knowledge of the subject or from sources with personal knowledge of the subject.

3. Any form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer.

Usage notes

A memoir may differ from a simple biography or autobiography by not focusing on the author as the primary subject matter, but on people and events in the subject's life. Emphasis is placed on personal observations about external events.

The plural memoirs is often used to refer to a single work.

Related terms

• memory

Translations

References

• “memoir” in Michael Agnes, editor-in-chief, Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley, 2010, ?ISBN; reproduced on the Collins English Dictionary
• “memoir” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “memoir”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).
• “memoir”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “Memoir” in John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robin?on, Paterno?ter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1791, ?OCLC, page 341, column 2.

Further reading

• memoir on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• memoir in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• momier