3 entries under this word
n. [Dan. terne, tärne, Sw. tärna, Icel. therna, sea-swallow, maid-servant, D. stern, ikstern, N. Lat. sterna.] (Ornith.) A long-winged aquatic fowl of the genus Sterna of Linnæus, closely allied to the gulls; as, the great or common tern, or sea-swallow (S. hirundo), the black tern, the lesser tern, or hooded tern, &c.
Arctic tern, the Sterna arctica.
a. [Lat. ternus, pl. terni, three each, three, from tres, tria, three.] Threefold; consisting of three. Tern flowers (Bot.), flowers growing three and three together. — Tern leaves, leaves arranged in threes, or three by three, or having three in each whorl or set. — Tern peduncles, three peduncles growing together from the same axis. — Tern schooner (Naut.), a three-masted vessel rigged as a schooner.
n. [See supra.] That which consists of, or pertains to, three things or numbers together; especially, a prize in a lottery resulting from the favorable combination of three numbers in the drawing; also, the three numbers themselves. She'd win a tern in Thursday's lottery. E. B. Browning.