warn
pronunciation
How to pronounce warn in British English:
UK [wɔːn]
How to pronounce warn in American English:
US [wɔːrn]
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- Verb:
- notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
- admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior
- ask to go away
- notify, usually in advance
Word Origin
- warn
- warn: [OE] Warn, and its German relative warnen, go back to a prehistoric West Germanic *warnōjan. This was formed from the base *war- ‘watch, be on one’s guard, take care’, which also produced English ward, ware, wary, etc. Germanic *warnjan, which evidently had close links with *warnōjan, was borrowed into French, and surfaced in English as garnish.=> garnish, ward, ware, wary
- warn (v.)
- Old English warnian "to give notice of impending danger," also intransitive, "to take heed," from Proto-Germanic *warnon (cognates: Old Norse varna "to admonish," Old High German warnon "to take heed," German warnen "to warn"), from PIE *wer- (5) "to cover" (see weir). Related: Warned; warning.
Example
- 1. Passersby warn drivers about new sniper positions and checkpoints .
- 2. Image-recognition software can warn of other aircraft .
- 3. But scientists warn that this volcano is extremely unpredictable .
- 4. The city government has set up a twitter account to warn citizens about shoot-outs .
- 5. Her parents warn her against listening to catholic prayers .