corn
/ˈkɔɹn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.19 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
Uncountable
noun
Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.
Australian usage; Canadian usage; New Zealand usage; American usage; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "And hee ſaid, Beholde, I haue heard that there is corne in Egypt: get you downe thither and buy for vs from thence, that we may liue, and not die."
- "Among the divinities that dwelt on Mount Olympus, none was more friendly to the husbandman than Demeter, goddess of corn."
- "Moreover, however much the individual manufacturer might give the rein to his old lust for gain, the spokesmen and political leaders of the manufacturing class ordered a change of front and of speech towards the workpeople. They had entered upon the contest for the repeal of the Corn Laws, and needed the workers to help them to victory. They promised, therefore, not only a double-sized loaf of bread, but the enactment of the Ten Hours' Bill in the Free Trade millenium."
- "[T]here exists arguments in favour of regarding one of the eatable varieties of "leaven," Machmetzeth, as the beer of the Hebrews. The mention of beer by the Egyptians is frequent; under the name of Hek, two intoxicating beverages are included. The components of these beers, individually, are not known: one was made from corn, the other was a medicated or sweetened beer, due to the addition of honey, or system of brewing."
- "I found that we had nearly a hundred bushels of corn, including wheat, maize, and barley, to add to our store."
- "The planting or sowing of maize, exclusively called corn, was just accomplished on the Town Hill, when I reached it."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nóm Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂-nós Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm Proto-Germanic *kurną Proto-West Germanic *korn Old English corn Middle English corn English corn Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao. The sense maize (Zea mays) is an ellipsis of Indian corn that developed in 18th century North America.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɔɹn/
- British English: /ˈkɔːn/