grain

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a relatively small granular particle of a substance
  2. noun foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
  3. noun the side of leather from which the hair has been removed

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.

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