English Reference

Word

morn

US/ˈmɔɹn/

UK/mˈɔːn/

Definition

n. the early part of the day. This is an old-fashioned or poetic way to say 'morning'.

n. the early part of the day from sunrise to noon; used primarily in poetry or literary contexts as a shortened form of 'morning'.

Examples

“The birds began to sing at the break of morn.”

“The poet described the dew on the grass in the early morn as if it were a field of diamonds.”

“In the quiet of the morn, before the village stirred to life, the mist clung to the valley floor like a heavy grey blanket.”

Examples

simple

“The birds began to sing at the break of morn.”

contextual

“The poet described the dew on the grass in the early morn as if it were a field of diamonds.”

complex

“In the quiet of the morn, before the village stirred to life, the mist clung to the valley floor like a heavy grey blanket.”

Usage

Primarily restricted to verse or archaic prose; rarely used in contemporary speech or standard academic writing.

Real-World Examples

“In an update this morning, West Midlands Fire Service said it had crews "tactically working" across several sites.”
BBC News · 14 Aug 2026
“Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have been travelling on the R132 in the Smithstown, Julianstown area between 01:20am and 02:20am this morning, particularly anyone who may have dashcam footage, to come forward.”
BreakingNews.ie · 15 Aug 2026

Etymology

From Middle English morn, morwen, from Old English morgen, from Proto-West Germanic morgan, morgin, from Proto-Germanic murganaz, murginaz, from Proto-Indo-European mr̥kéno, mr̥kóno, from Proto-Indo-European mr̥Hko, from mer- (“to shimmer, glisten”). See also West Frisian moarn, Low German Morgen, Dutch morgen, German Morgen, Danish morgen, Norwegian morgon; also Lithuanian mérkti (“to blink, twinkle”), Sanskrit मरीचि (márīci, “ray of light”), Greek μέρα (méra, “morning”). Doublet of morrow and morgen. See also morning.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

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English Reference