Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

grain

/ɡɹeɪn/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.18 in modern English

Syllables
grain
IPA
/ɡɹeɪn/
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice.

Uncountable

noun

Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.

Uncountable

noun

A single seed of a food crop, especially a cereal grass crop.

Countable

noun

The crops from which grain is harvested.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A linear texture of a material or surface.

Uncountable

noun

A single particle of a substance.

Countable

noun

Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *ǵerh₂-, greyn, grain, grānum, *ǵr̥h₂nóm, grayn

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Food.

Inflected Forms

grains (plural) grains (present, singular) graining (participle, present) grained (participle, past) grained (past) grane (alternative)

Derived Forms

feedgrain foodgrain grainage grainfall grainfield grainflow grainish grainland grainless grainlike grainline grainstone

Phrases

against the grain ancient grain Angoumois grain moth argyrophilic grain disease brewers' spent grains distillers' grains end grain feed grain

Frequently Paired Words

coarse-grained fine-grained garnet grain alcohol grain car grain neutral spirit grains of paradise grain spirit

Synonyms

cereal corn troy grain draff grain texture food grain caryopsis

Rhymes With

main pain campaign train brain explain remain gain plane rain chain maintain

Questions

How do you pronounce grain?
The recorded pronunciation is /ɡɹeɪn/.
What does grain mean?
The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice.
Where does grain come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce grain

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “grain”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɡɹeɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “grain”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “grain” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.