acorn
/ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.08 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
noun
Example Sentences
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ógr̥der.? Proto-Germanic *akraną Proto-West Germanic *akarn Old English æcern ▲ Middle English corninflu. Middle English acorn English acorn Inherited from Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (“acorn, oak-mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *akarn, from Proto-Germanic *akraną (“fruit; acorn, nut”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égrō (“berry”). Cognates Cognate with Scots aicorn (“acorn”), Dutch aker (“acorn”), German Ecker (“acorn”), Danish agern (“acorn”), Faroese and Icelandic akarn (“acorn”), Norwegian Nynorsk åkorn (“acorn”), Gothic 𐌰𐌺𐍂𐌰𐌽 (akran, “fruit”); Irish airne (“sloe”), Welsh aeron (“berries; small fruits”), eirin (“plums”), Latgalian ūga (“berry”), Latvian oga (“berry”), Lithuanian uoga (“berry”), Belarusian я́гада (jáhada, “berry”), Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian я́года (jáhoda, “berry”), Czech and Slovak jahoda (“strawberry”), Macedonian ја́года (jágoda, “strawberry”), Polish and Slovene jagoda (“berry”), Serbo-Croatian ја̏года, jȁgoda (“strawberry”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B oko (“fruit”). Not related to Old English āc (“oak”), corn (“corn, seed”) or Middle English acquerne.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: acorn, æcern, *akarn, *akraną, *h₂ógr̥
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/
- British English: /ˈeɪ.kɔːn/