Plural of hern: an archaic or dialectal term for heron, a large wading bird with long legs and a long neck.
From Old English 'heorn' or 'herne,' related to Old High German 'heigaro.' The word for heron went through sound changes over centuries as English evolved, and 'hern' persists as an archaic or poetic form.
Hern is a beautiful old English word that Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers used—it evokes a more poetic era when English had dozens of words for common birds that we now mostly just call by their modern names!
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