curnn.
northern and Scottish.† 1. plural. Grain, corn-crops. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun]
corn871
curnsa1400
frumentc1440
stuff1461
victual1473
plough-meat1580
fourment1601
breadstuff1793
white victual1799
cereal1832
corn-chandlery1883
mutt-eye1946
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7158 To her tailes fire he bond..þourȝe þe felde he made hem fle..And so her curnes dud he brenne.
2.
a. Scottish. A grain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > a grain or granule
grainc1290
curn1474
quern1503
granule1652
granula1694
1474 Act. Audit. 35 (Jam.) Of ilk chalder the thrid kurne.
c1540 D. Lindsay Kitteis Confess. 90 Curnis of meil, and luffillis of Malt.
1759 J. Lauder Decisions I. 334 (Jam.) The seed, which is excepted from the multure; this is the 4th pickle or curne.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet II. xiii. 310 If there be a drap mair lemon or a curn less sugar than just suits you.
1882 ‘J. Strathesk’ Bits from Blinkbonny vii. 137 I boil'd their meal an' put a ‘curn’ o' spice in't.
b. transferred. A small number or quantity; a few.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > some but not much
fewOE
a little1540
something1654
curn1785
1785 Jrnl. from London to Portsmouth 8 (Jam.) I saw a curn of camla-like fellows wi' them.
1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 72 I frae the neuk fesh coals an' sticks, An' i' the chimly cast a curn.
1820 St. Kathleen IV. 143 (Jam.) Only a curn bubbles brak on the tap.
1847 H. Miller Geol. Bass Rock 109 Yonder's a curn o' rough hills.
1891 A. Matthews Poems & Songs 54 Among a curn claikin' wives.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.a1400