Churn

How to spell churn

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce churn

What does churn mean?

1. verbTo stir or agitate something vigorously, or to produce it rapidly in large quantities.
2. nounA container or machine in which cream is beaten to make butter.
3. nounThe rate at which customers or employees are lost and replaced over a period.

Churn in a sentence

• verb

  The storm made the open sea churn with grey foam.

• noun

  The restored farmhouse still kept a wooden churn in the dairy.

• noun

  The company tracks customer churn at the end of every quarter.

• verb

  The heavy blades churn the thick batter for several minutes.

• noun

  She poured the cream into the churn and turned the handle steadily.

• noun

  High staff churn forced the firm to review its pay and conditions.

Where does churn come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Churn comes from the Old English word cyrin, the name for the vessel in which cream was beaten into butter, and it belongs to the native Germanic layer of English rather than to any later borrowing. The same root survives in related northern European languages, for instance the Old Norse kirna and the Dutch karn, all of them naming the same kind of butter-making tub. For centuries the word meant only the vessel itself or the act of working cream inside it, a vigorous up-and-down stirring with a wooden plunger. From that very physical action the verb broadened to describe any thick, restless agitation, such as water churning in a storm or a stomach churning with nerves. In modern business English the word took yet another turn, naming the steady loss and replacement of customers or staff, picturing them as something constantly being stirred and turned over.

How the word is built

• churn (single Old English root cyrin: a butter-making vessel)