early 1818 
and long, narrow, lancet-headed windows, without mul- earn 3 em 3 , erne 3 (ern), n. [< ME. ern, erne, 
lions. Toward the end of the period the windows be- arn< ^m, earn, < AS. earn, ONorth. arn - D. 
arend = MLG. arn, arne, erne, arnt, arent, LG. 
arend = OHG. MHG. arn = Icel. Sw. Dan. dm, 
an eagle ; also without the formative -n, OHG. 
aro, MHG. ar, Gr. oar = Icel. ari = Goth, ara, 
an eagle (in comp. MHG. adel-arn, also adel-ar, 
Or. adler = D. adelaar, eagle, lit. ' noble eagle'), 
akin to OBulg. orilil = Bulg. Slov. orel = Serv. 
orao = Bohem. orel = Pol. orzel, orel (barred I) 
= Russ. orelii = OPruss. arelie = Lith. arelis, 
erelis = Lett, erglis, an eagle, appar. orig. ' the 
bird ' by eminence, = Gr. opvtf (stem bpviB-, dial. 
bpvix-, orig. bpvi-), also bpvtov, a bird, so called 
from its soaring, < bpvvvat (-y/ "op) = L. oriri, 
rise, soar (> ult. E. orient), = Skt. i/ ar, move.] 
An eagle. This is the original English name for the 
eagle. It is now chiefly poetical or dialectal, or used, as 
In zoology, in special designations like bald earn. 
That him ne hauede grip [gripe vulture] or ern. 
Havelok, 1. 572. 
An ern, in stede of his baner, he set vp of golde. 
Robert of Gloucester, p. 215. 
Bald earn. See bald eagle, under eagle. 
earn 4 t (6rn), v. i. [A corruption of yearn^-, by 
confusion with earn 5 , equiv. to yearn 2 .'] To 
yearn. 
And ever as he rode his hart did earne 
To prove his puissance in battell brave. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. 1. 8. 
earn 5 t (6rn), v. . Same as yearn 2 . 
earnest 1 (er'nest), . [< ME. ernest, earnest, < 
AS. earnest, eornost, eornust, zeal, serious pur- 
pose, = OFries. ernst, Fries, eriiste = MD. aernst, 
D. ernst = MLG. ernest. ernst, LG. ernst = OHG. 
came grouped in a manner that led to the development ernus t MHG ernest G nui ypal vitrnr aeri 
of tracery, and the style passed into the Decorated style. ' Sr. i ' v V ' ' }& U?~ 
Also called the First Pointed or Lancet style. ousness ; cf . Icel. ern, bnsk, vigorous. The OHG. 
earmark (er'mark), n. [< earl + mark.'] 1. and MHG. word has, rarely, the sense of 'fight- 
A mark on the ear by which a sheep or other in >' but there is no authority in AS. or ME. 
domestic animal is known. Hence 2. Figur- ' or this sense, on which a comparison with Icel. 
atively, in law, any mark for identification, as orrosta, mod. orosta, orusta, a battle, is found- 
Early English Architecture. Galilee Porch and South Transept of 
Lincoln Cathedral. 
a privy mark made on a coin. 3. Anycharac- 
teristic or distinguishing mark, natural or oth- 
er, by which the ownership or relation of some- 
thing is known. 
What distinguishing marks can a man fix upon a set of 
intellectual ideas, so as to call himself proprietor of them? 
If. Gravity; serious purpose; earnest- 
ness. 
The hoote ernest is al overblowe. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 1287. 
Therewith she laught, and did her earnest end in jest. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vi. 23. 
They have no earmarks upon them, no tokens of a par- 2. Seriousness; reality; actuality, as opposed 
ticilliir nrnnrietnr. R**W/MM? 4... :....-: -_ j>-* j _" ._ 
ticular proprietor. Burrows. 
An element of disproportion, of grotesqueness, earmark 
of the barbarian, disturbs us, even when it does not dis- 
gust, in them all [songs of the Trouveres]. 
Lowell, Study Windows, p. 243. 
earmark (er'mark), v. t. [< earmark, .] To 
mark, as sheep, by cropping or slitting the ear. 
For feare least we like rogues should lie reputed, 
And for eare-marked beasts abroad be bruted. 
Spenser, Mother Hub. Tale. 
earn 1 (6rn), v. t. [< ME. ernen, ernien, earnien, 
< AS. earnian, earn, merit, with altered sense, 
developed, as indicated by the cognate forms 
(the E. dial, sense ' glean,' as in def. 3, being 
appar. of later growth), from that of 'work , ,., . 
(reap) for hire,' = MLG. amen, ernen, OHG. earnest 1 (6r nest), a 
....= ' -CTT/> ' Tint fmi tin (f\r\\v frnpo 
to jesting or feigned appearance. 
Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest. 
Sir P. Sidney. 
But take it earnest wed with sport, 
And either sacred unto you. 
Tennyson, Day-Dream, Epil. 
In earnest, or in good earnest, with a serious purpose ; 
seriously ; not in sport or jest, nor in a thoughtless, trifllne 
way : as, they set to work in earnest. 
What ever he be he shall repente the daye 
That he was bold, in earnest or in game, 
To do to you this villany and shame. 
Generydes (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 610. 
He acted ingoodearnest what Rehoboani did but ' kreat'n. 
Milton, Elkonoklastes, xxvii. 
ME. *erneste, adj., 
^.uui* j J.WJ. iiiiv, - 1A.U\J> * t*/ IK II , VI Ills lit \JH\Ji, i a J / 1 ' ' ~~~t ---- f ~' 
anon, MHG. arnen, reap; from a noun not no ^ fo ? nd (ffi ""*0WJi < AS. eornoste, adj. 
found in AS., but represented by OFries. arn and adv -> = MLG. eniesi, ernst, G. ernst, adj. ; 
= MLG. arn, aren, arne, erne, OHG. aran, arn, fF om the noun -3 * Serious m speech or ac- 
MHG. erne OHG. pi. erm), harvest (whence ? 1O ? ; ! a S er 5 urgent; importunate; pressing; 
OHG. arnot, pi. arnodi, MHG. ernede, ernde, G. lnstant : as > earnest in prayer. 
ernde, arnde, erndte, arndte, usually ernte, har- 
vest), = Icel. 6')in for 'asmi, work, a working 
season, = Goth, asans, harvest, harvest-time 
(cf Russ. osenl harvest, autumn) ; whence 
Goth, asneis = OHG. asni = AS. esne, a hired 
laborer.] 1. To gain by labor, service, or per- 
formance ; acquire ; merit or deserve as com- 
pensation or reward for service, or as one's real 
or apparent desert; gain a right to or the DOS- P resent 'y P ut P n the m. 
Winthr 
He was most earnest with me, to haue me say my mynde 
also. Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 71. 
The common people were earnest with this new King 
(of., Russ. ose^ J.arvest, autumnY; whenle "" PeaC<J With the """"JW Pilgrimage, p. 792. 
With much difficulty he suffer'd me to looke homeward, 
being very earnest with me to stay longer. 
Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 10, 1677. 
Some of the magistrates were very earnest to have irons 
session of: as, to earn a dollar a day; to earn 
a fortune in trade; to earn the reputation of 
being stingy. 
Grant that your stubbornness 
Made you delight to earn still more and more 
Extremities of vengeance. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, ii. 119. 
Every joy that life gives must be earned ere it is se- 
cured : and how hardly earned, those only know who have 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 176. 
- Possessing or characterized by seriousness 
in seeking, doing, etc.; strongly bent; intent: 
as, an earnest disposition. 
On that prospect strange 
Their earnest eyes they flx'd. 
Milton, P. L., x. 563. 
' Stre * uous 5 diligent: as, earnest efforts.- 4. 
weighty nature ; not trifling or feigned. 
They whom earnest lets do often hinder. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity. 
vuicu . aim jiuw uuruiy tamea, inose only know who have o i 1-1 j. . . 
wrestled for great prizes. Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, vii! ( l S J_ W f lg y ' a^senous, important, or 
What steward but knows when stewardship earns its wage ? 
Browning, Ring and Book, I. 44. 
2. In base-ball, to gain or secure by batting or 
base-running, and not by the errors or bad play m L our ? were 80 a es( ^ 41 ! e y er / sound * th 
of opponents: as, one side scored 5, but had "?! f ,'-, *""' ?*" Progress> p ' 244 ' 
earned only 3 runs. 3 To glean HaWweM " ' ls earnest - Longfellow, Psalm of Life. 
[Prov. Eng.] ' earnestH (er'nest), v. t. [= G. ernsten, be se- 
earn 2 (ern), v. i. [E. dial, and So., < ME. ernen y, ere ' speak or act severely ; from the noun.] 
lo be serious with; use in earnest. 
Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, 
That when we come to earnest them with men, 
eornen, urnen, etc., < AS. irnan, yrnan, eornan, 
transposed form of rinnan, etc., run (ME. also 
coagiilate): see run (of which earn 2 is a dou- 
blet), runnel, rennet.'] To curdle, as milk. 
We may them better use. 
Pastor Fido (1602), sig. E 1. 
earnestness 
earnest 2 (er'uest), n. [With excrescent -t, < 
ME. ernes, eernes, a pledge, < W. ernes, a pledge, 
ern, a pledge, erno, give a pledge. Cf. L. arrlia, 
arra, earnest: see arlcs and arrha.'] 1. A por- 
tion of something given or done in advance as 
a pledge; security in kind; specifically, in tow, 
a part of the price of goods or service bargained 
for, which is paid at the time of the bargain 
to evidence the fact that the negotiation has 
ended in an actual contract. Hence it is said to 
bind the bargain. Sometimes the earnest, if trifling in 
amount, is not taken into account in the reckoning. 
Giving them some money in hand as an earnest of the 
rest. Ludlow, Memoirs. 
2. Anything that gives pledge, promise, assur- 
ance, or indication of what is to follow ; first- 
fruits. 
Poul tellith in this epistle of fredom of Cristene men, 
how thei have ther ernes here, and fully fredom in hevene. 
Wyelif, Select Works (ed. Arnold), II. 277. 
He who from such a kind of Psalmistry, or any other 
verbal Devotion, without the pledge and earnest of suta- 
ble deeds, can be perswaded of a zeale and true righteous- 
ness in the person, hath much yet to learn. 
Milton, Eikonoklastes, i. 
Ev'ry moment's calm that soothes the breast 
Is giv'n in earnest of eternal rest. 
.." Cowper, An Epistle. 
=Syn. Earnest, Pledge. Earnest, like pledge, is security 
given for the doing of something definite in the future, and 
generally returned when the conditions of the contract 
have been fulfilled. In 2 Cor. i. 22 and v. 5 we read that 
the Spirit is given as the earnest of indefinite future favors 
from God ; in Blackstone we find " a penny, or any portion 
of the goods delivered as earnest." Whether literal or 
figurative, earnest is always a pledge in kind, a part paid 
or given in warrant that more of the same kind is forth- 
coming; as in "Macbeth," i. 3, Macbeth is hailed thane 
of Cawdor "for an earnest of a greater honor." See also 
"Cymbeline," i. 6. Pledge is often used figuratively for 
that which seems promised or indicated by the actions of 
the present, earnest being preferred for that which is of 
the same nature with the thing promised, and pledge for 
that which is materially different. 
Man, if not yet fully installed in his powers, has given 
much earnest of his claims. 
llarg. Fuller, Woman in 19th Cent., p. 15. 
Seldom has so much promise, seldom have so great ear- 
nests of great work, been so sadly or so fatally blighted. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 10. 
Bright pledge of peace and sunshine. 
Vmtglum, The Rainbow. 
earnest 2 ! (er'nest), v. t. [< earnest*, .] To 
serve as an earnest or a pledge of. 
This little we see is something in hand, to earnest to us 
those things which are in hope. 
T. Shepard, Clear Sunshine of the Gospel, Ded. 
earnestfult (er'nest-ful), a. [< earnest* + 
-ful.~\ Serious; earnest. 
Lat us stin te of ernestful matere. 
Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 1176. 
earnestly (er'nest-li), adv. [< ME. ernestly, < 
AS. eornostlice, earnestly, strictly (also used 
conjunctively as a stiff translation of L. ergo, 
igitur, itaque, etc., therefore, and so, but, etc.) 
(= D. ernstelijk = OHG. ermtstlitilio, MHG. er- 
nestliche, G. ernstlieh), < eornost, earnest, + -lice, 
E. -ly 2 .] In an earnest manner; warmly; 
zealously; importunately; eagerly; with real 
desire ; with fixed attention. 
Thenne euelez on erthe ernestly grewen. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), 1. 2227. 
Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. 
Luke xxii. 44. 
There stood the king, and long time earnestly 
Looked on the lessening ship. 
William Harris, Earthly Paradise, II. 309. 
earnest-money (er'uest-mun"i), n. Money 
paid as earnest to bind a bargain or ratify and 
confirm a sale. Also called hand-money. 
earnestness (er'nest-nes), n. 1. Intentness or 
zeal in the pursuit of anything ; eagerness ; 
strong or eager desire ; energetic striving : as, 
to seek or ask with earnestness; to engage in a 
work with earnestness. 
So false is the heart of man, so ... contradictory are 
its actions and intentions, that some men pursue virtue 
with great earnestness, and yet cannot with patience look 
upon it in another. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 799. 
Moderation costs nothing to a man who has no earnest- 
ness. II. A'. Oxenham, Short Studies, p. 140. 
They who have no religious earnestness are at the mercy, 
day by day, of some new argument or fact, which may over- 
take them, in favor of one conclusion or the other. 
J. 11. Xeicmait, Gram, of Assent, p. 414. 
2. Anxious care ; solicitude ; strength of feel- 
ing; seriousness: as, a man of great earnest- 
ness; the charge was maintained with much 
earnestness. 
I learn that there is truth and firmness and an earnest- 
ness of doing good alive in the work]. 
Donne, Letters, xlvii. 
~ Syn. 1. Zeal, Enthusiasm, etc. See eagerness. 
