erne

Etymology

Came into English from Middle English ern, erne, earn, which developed from Old English earn, meaning "eagle". This in turn goes back to Proto-West Germanic *arnu ("eagle"), from Proto-Germanic *arnuz ("eagle"), from Proto-Germanic *arô ("eagle") (also the source of Arnold), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō ("large bird, eagle"). It is cognate with North Frisian Aarn, iarn, jarn ("eagle"), West Frisian earn ("eagle"), Dutch arend ("eagle"), German Aar ("eagle"), Low German Arend ("eagle"), Danish, Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ørn ("eagle"), Icelandic and Swedish örn ("eagle"), Ancient Greek ὄρνεον (órneon) and ὄρνις (órnis, "bird") (the source of ornitho-), translingual -ornis, and Proto-Slavic *orьlъ ("eagle").