English Explanatory Dictionary

corn

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
  2. Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.
  3. A grain or seed, especially of a cereal crop.
  4. A small, hard particle.
  5. A type of granular snow formed by repeated melting and refreezing, often in mountain spring conditions.
  6. Bullets, ammunition, and charge and discharge of firearms.
  7. Money.
verb
  1. To granulate; to form (a substance) into grains.
  2. To preserve using coarse salt, e.g. corned beef.
  3. To provide (an animal) with corn (typically maize; or, in Scotland, oats) for feed.
  4. To render intoxicated.
  5. To shoot up with bullets as by a shotgun (corn).
noun
  1. A type of callus, usually on the feet or hands.
  2. An inflammatory disease of a horse's hoof, at the caudal part of the sole.
  3. Skin hyperplasia with underlying fibroma between both digits of cattle.
noun
  1. Something (e.g., acting, humour, music, or writing) which is deemed old-fashioned or intended to induce emotion.
noun
  1. pornography; porn
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A town in Oklahoma.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɔːn/ /ˈkɔɹn/ en-us-corn.ogg /ˈkoːn/ EN-AU ck1 corn.ogg

Word forms

corn corns corning corned

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.

Synonyms

cereal grain Indian corn corn snow clavus

Related words

barley cereal grain maize oats rye wheat

Derived words

acknowledge the corn Asian corn borer baby corn barleycorn blue corn breadcorn broom corn broomcorn calico corn California corn flakes candy corn can of corn carry corn cord grass cornbind cornbird corn blotch leafminer corn borer corn bunting corncake corn cheese corn chip corn circle corncob corn-cob corn cockle corncockle corn cracker corn-cracker corncrake corn-crake corn crake corn crib corn crusher corncutter corn-dodger corn dog corn doll corn dolly corn earworm corn exchange corn-factor cornfed corn-fed cornfest cornfield corn-flag corn flake cornflake corn flakes cornfloor cornflour cornflower corn fly corn gallon Corngate corn-hog ratio cornhole corn house cornhusk
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