corn

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times
  2. noun the dried grains or kernels or corn used as animal feed or ground for meal
  3. noun ears of corn that can be prepared and served for human food

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

maize, Indian corn, Zea mays

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