English Explanatory Dictionary

grain

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
  2. Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
  3. A single seed of grass food crops.
  4. The crops from which grain is harvested.
  5. A linear texture of a material or surface.
  6. A single particle of a substance.
  7. Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
  8. The English grain of ¹⁄₅₇₆₀ troy pound or ¹⁄₇₀₀₀ pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
  9. The metric, carat, or pearl grain of ¹⁄₄ carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
  10. The French grain of ¹⁄₉₂₁₆ livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
  11. Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
  12. The carat grain of ¹⁄₄ carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
verb
  1. To feed grain to.
  2. To make granular; to form into grains.
  3. To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
  4. To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
  5. To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
  6. To soften leather.
  7. To yield fruit.
noun
  1. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant; an offshoot.
  2. A tine, prong, or fork.
  3. One of the branches of a valley or river.
  4. An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
  5. A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
  6. An arm of a cross.
  7. A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
  8. A branch or arm of a stream, inlet, or sea.
  9. A fork in a river valley or ravine.
  10. The branch of a family; clan.
  11. The groin; crotch.
  12. The fangs of a tooth.
name
  1. A village in Isle of Grain parish, Isle of Grain, Medway borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ8876).
  2. A surname.

Pronunciation

/ɡɹeɪn/ en-us-grain.ogg

Word forms

grain grains graining grained grane

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.

Synonyms

grain troy grain draff

Related words

coarse-grained fine-grained garnet grain alcohol grain car grain neutral spirit grains of paradise grain spirit granary granular granularity granulate granulation grenade grosgrain guinea grains neutral grain spirit cereal scythe combine field mill

Derived words

against the grain ancient grain argyrophilic grain disease brewers' spent grains distillers' grains end grain feedgrain feed grain felt grain foodgrain go against the grain grainage grain beetle grain boundary grain corn grain elevator grain engulfment grain entrapment grainfall grainfield grainflow grainish grain itch grainland grainless grainlike grainline grain moon grain of paradise grain of salt grain of truth grain physa grain popping grain refiner grain size grains of paradise grainstone grain weevil grain whiskey grain whisky grainy grain yard grainygrip grain grip grain guinea grains intergrain intragrain kefir grain long-grain micrograin multigrain nanograin nongrain overgrain pollen grain pseudograin puffed grain seed grain short-grain silver grain

Translations

Akkadian: 𒊺 Albanian: drithë Southern Altai: аш Arabic: حَبَة Armenian: հացահատիկ Aromanian: grãn Azerbaijani: dən Bashkir: ярма Basque: garau Basque: bihi Basque: ale Belarusian: зерне́ Belarusian: збо́жжа Belarusian: жы́та Bengali: শস্য Bulgarian: зърно́ Bulgarian: гран Burmese: အဆန် Catalan: gra Chinese Mandarin: 糧食 /粮食 Chinese Mandarin: 穀物 /谷物 Chinese Mandarin: 穀類 /谷类 Czech: zrno Czech: zrní Czech: grán Dalmatian: grun Danish: korn Dutch: koren Dutch: graan Dutch: grein Egyptian: sSr-Z1-U9:Z2ss Esperanto: greno Esperanto: grano Estonian: teravili Estonian: tera Finnish: vilja Finnish: jyvät Finnish: graani French: grain Galician: grao Galician: gran Georgian: მარცვალი German: Korn German: Getreide German: Gran German: Grän Gothic: 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 Greek: σιτηρά Greek: δημητριακά Ancient Greek: σῖτος Ancient Greek: ἀκτή Haitian Creole: grenn Hebrew: בָּר Hindi: अनाज Hindi: अन्न Hindi: धान्य Hungarian: gabona Hungarian: szemer Icelandic: korn Irish: grán Old Irish: grán Italian: seme Japanese: 穀物 Japanese: 穀類 Javanese: wiji
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