kern

A corn; grain; kernel.countabledialectalobsolete

The last handful or sheaf reaped at the harvest.countabledialectalobsolete

The harvest home.countabledialectalobsolete

A doll or figurine raised in celebration of a successful harvest; kern-baby.countabledialectalobsolete

Any part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter.

• A few types have a portion of the face letter projecting over the body, as in the letter f ; this projection is called the kern, and in combination with other letters the projecting part generally extends over the next letter, as in fe. In

To adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters (characters or glyphs); to perform such adjustments to a portion of text, according to preset rules.

• If you need to kern anything beyond the most commonly used pairs, you can use applications software such as Adobe PageMaker to customize pairs.
• Especially consider kerning if you are printing on a relatively high-resolution printer, such as a 600-dpi (dots per inch) laser printer.

A light-armed foot soldier of the ancient militia of Ireland and Scotland; in archaic contexts often used as a term of contempt.archaichistorical

• O then belike she was old and gentle; and you rode like a kern of Ireland, your French hose off and in your strait strossers.
• ‘O haste thee, and from Allan learn / If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.’

A boor; a low person.Irelandobsolete

• To think that such a lowly kern Should dare to dream to be allied By wedlock to a royal bairn!
• The kern was much puzzled, for never before had he known food bought or sold.

An idler; a vagabond.UKobsolete

• The villain kernes Who keep me fettered here.

Alternative form of quern.alt-ofalternative

A churn.