Where does “terne” come from?

terne (Middle English) comes from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter, from Latin terr, from Old Latin tris, from Proto-Italic trēs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

Ancestry of “terne”, step by step

terne traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French terne

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchternedull, dim
2Latinternasaccusative feminine plural of terni
3Latinternithree each; three at a time
4Latinterthrice
5Latinterr—
6Old Latintris—
7Proto-Italictrēsthree
8Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—

via Old Norse tjǫrn

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norsetjǫrnsmall lake, pond, tarn; pool
2Proto-Germanicternōa mountain lake without tributaries; watering...
3Proto-Indo-Europeander-to split, to separate; to tear, to crack, to...

Words derived from “terne”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →Every word from Proto-Italic trēs →Every word from Old Latin tris →