Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

barleycorn

/ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.61 in modern English

Syllables: bar-l-ey-corn
IPA: /ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/

17

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A grain of barley.

noun

The length of such a grain; a unit of length of approximately one third (or sometimes one quarter) of an inch or eight millimetres, still used as a basis for shoe sizes.

Obsolete

noun

A small groove between two moldings.

Example Sentences

"The Town Mouse came, and they sat down to a dinner of barleycorns and roots, the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavour."
"This trip to Italy has actually enlarged the diameter of my head thirteen barleycorns!"
"Then shewed the devil the booke unto the friar, and the friar saw it was an uncut unique of incalculable value; the height of it was half a cubit and the breadth of it the fourth part of a cubit and the thickness of it five barleycorns lacking the space of three horsehairs."

Etymology

From barley + corn.

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

barleycorns (plural)

Phrases

barleycorn sight

Synonyms

barley

Questions

How do you pronounce barleycorn?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/.
What does barleycorn mean?: A grain of barley.
Where does barleycorn come from?: From barley + corn.

How to pronounce barleycorn

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “barleycorn”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “barleycorn”.
Repeat and practice — Say “barleycorn” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.