earn

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɜːn/, US /ɝːn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ernen, inherited from Old English earnian (“to deserve, labour for, get a reward for labour”),^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *aznon (“to do harvest work”),^[2][3] a verb from *azno “labour, especially field work”,^[2] the source of Old Norse ǫnn “work in the field”, Old High German arnōn “to reap” and German Ernte “harvest”.^[2][3][4] It is related to Old English esne “labourer”^[4][2] and Gothic asans “harvest”,^[2][5] and is from Proto-Indo-European *es-en- (“harvest, autumn”), which gave Russian osen “autumn”.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To get as a reward for labour, to render work in return for something: about 888 in the OED, before 899 in Barnhart, in Alfred's Boethius.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Of qualities or actions, to bring something as a consequence, such as a reputation, is from 1596.^[6] To work for a reward is from 1589.^[6] Of money invested, to produce interest, is from 1887.^[6] In baseball an earned run is from 1880.^[6] The spelling earn was gradually adopted in the 1600s.^[3] In northern dialect earn meant to glean, keeping the old “harvest” sense.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 888 – to gain by labour.^[6]
• 1589 – to work for a reward.^[6]
• 1596 – to bring as a consequence.^[6]
• 1880 – an earned run in baseball.^[6]
• 1887 – of money, to yield interest.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To get money in return for work.
2. To get something that one deserves because of one's actions or qualities.
3. Of an investment, to produce profit or interest.

Word family

• earner
• unearned
• earnings
• nonearning
• outearn
• reearn

Usage notes

The AHD groups earn with deserve, merit, rate and win, verbs meaning to gain something as a result of one's behaviour or effort.^[8] A different earn, now dialect, means to curdle milk (1674),^[6][7] and another, “to yearn” (1579), is probably an alteration of yearn.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin