Kern
late 17th century: perhaps from French carne ‘corner’, from Latin cardo, cardin- ‘hinge’.
wiktionary
From Middle English curn, cooren, variant forms of Middle English corn, see English corn and also Dutch kern, Old High German kerno, cherno, Middle High German kerne, kern, German Kern(“core, kernel”), Old Norse kjarni, Icelandic kjarni, Danish kjerne, Swedish kärna(“core, kernel”); see also kernel.
From French carne(“corner; projecting angle; quill of a pen”), from Latin cardinem(“hinge”) [1] or from Etymology 1. The verb is a back-formation from kerned, which is from the noun. Doublet of cardo.
From Middle English kerne, from Middle Irish ceithern.
kern (plural kerns)
kern (plural kerns)
etymonline
kern (n.)
1680s, "part of a metal type projecting beyond the body," as the head of an -f- or the tail of a -j-. According to Century Dictionary this is identical with kern "a grain" (see kernel), but OED says it is from French carne "projecting angle, quill of a pen" (12c.), Old North French form of Old French charne "hinge, pivot," from Latin cardinem "hinge." Related: Kerned "having the top or bottom projecting beyond the body;" kerning.
